Rifts In The Hyperlanes
by DeusExTranshuman
Summary: You ever wondered if the Gods hate us? I know that my God-like Patron does, hell the damned bastard even laughed when I asked that question. Then again, I suppose one could expect as much, given that I'm it's favoured source of entertainment... (Warning: This is not a happy story, there will be parts were things get dark, so be warned.)
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing, this is purely for recreational purposes.

AN: Ok, so, first of all, I just want to say that I'm not abandoning my other story. However, I've hit a roadblock and decided to take a step back, try writing something else before coming back to it further down the line.

Anyway, this story is something I started after discovering the wonderful world of Palladium Books and got hooked on the lore and background of Rifts and Splicer. For that reason, I decided to give it a shot with that and this was the result. Hope you enjoy it as I've a bit of a backlog of this stuff.

Anyway, on with the story!

 **XXX**

"... Oh, my fucking head...!" I groaned as I felt wakefulness return to me after what seemed like, and probably was, one _hell_ of a night out on the town. Slowly, I forced myself to sit up from where I felt myself slouching against a hard surface with my head resting on something that felt wet and mildly slimy. Absently, I couldn't help but wipe a hand down my face to get rid of that feeling of dampness against my cheeks, wiping away whatever it was as I cracked my eyes open a tad to look down at my hands as my mind came to its senses. Still, as my eyes opened, the first thing I saw was the light blue liquid that was covering my hand.

"Huh... Blue Milk..." I muttered to myself as the words came to mind without a conscious thought as my brain kicked into gear and I froze at that as I was suddenly fully awake. My body went rigid as I tried to figure out what the hell was going on as I suddenly glanced down at myself, a frown slipping on to my face as I took note of my clothes, having been changed at some point before I woke up as I looked to be wearing a suit of armor made from grey and black metal plates with a dark brown duster over the top while I saw more of the 'Blue Milk' dripping down between my armored fingers. By my side, I saw a helmet with what looked like a cowboy hat attached to the top, a dull silver face plate and made from the same grey and black armor plating as the rest of my suit. I caught a glimpse of two holsters on my legs, both were empty as I quickly glanced around for any weapons or anything, only to find nothing, though it did give me a chance to see exactly where I had turned up.

In short, I was in a rubbish filled alleyway in a backstreet in God-alone-knows-where.

Glancing one way, I saw light and figures in the distance, absently noting how my vision, which had always been shit at seeing over long distances, was better than ever. In the distance, I could make out a dozen figures moving around in, what I believed to be, the night as they were illuminated by the by, what I assumed, to be a dozen different street signs. However, what really got my attention was that, in the background, I could faintly make out what seemed like faint whispers in the back of my mind, images flashing through my head that made me stop for a moment as I picked out a few words.

"Nar Shaddaa..." I muttered to myself as my eyes went wide with a bizarre mixture of surprise, shock, horror and excitement as I quickly grabbed my helmet and slapped it on to my head, intent on finding out what the hell was going on as I moved purposefully towards the source of the various voices even as other things started coming to the forefront of my mind. I pushed those to one side, not wishing to be bothered by absent thoughts while I moved forwards, wanting to know what the hell had happened and wanting to figure out what my next course of action should be beyond 'figuring out where the hell I had been dumped'.

Turning another corner, I couldn't help but pause as I saw what was beyond me.

Around me, I watched as a dozen beings of hundreds of races all wondered around in vast markets as they looked from store to store on multiple different levels of a massive complex of metal and glass that stretched for as far as the eye could see. In the air, I watched as lines of flying cars and trucks formed into weaving lines of traffic as I spotted ships freely coming and going from landing pads scattered around the area along with a dozen other little details that told me one thing for certain...

"Well... I sure as shit ain't in Kansas anymore..." I muttered faintly as I glanced to either side, taking in the crowd before merging with it without a second thought, seemingly disappearing into the sea of people despite my attire.

It was only later that I would notice doing this so subconsciously even as tried to work through the shock that: A, I was no longer on Earth and was, in fact, in a work of fiction made real; B, that said work of fiction was _fucking_ _ **Star Wars!**_ And C, that I was probably never going to see my friends or family ever again.

All in all, I felt that I should have drank a shitload more, especially if I really _did_ have a night out on the town...

 **XXX**

It took me over three hours of mindless wondering before I managed to force down my shock, long enough for my body to run on autopilot and get me seated at the back of a cantina with a large glass of some kind of beer in front of me while my Holsters were now filled with a pair of Heavy Blaster pistols of some kind. DL-44 Heavy Blaster Pistols, that was the name whispered into the back of my mind as I mentally did a count of the power packs I had as I ran my hand over the belt around my waist in what felt like a completely natural action as I leaned back, my helmet off and one hand near my newly acquired weapons even as I thought about what was going on.

"Ok... Now... I've got time, I've got space and I've got some measure of peace to myself to see about figuring out what I've been dropped into..." I muttered to myself as I considered what had happened while thinking back to what I had experienced so far. The fact I was in Star Wars was rather self-evident at this point, just looking around told me as much as I saw Twi'leks, Rodians, Humans and a few dozen other races all wondering around, enjoying their drinks... Though, I thought I saw the beginnings of a bar fight between a pair of Transdoshans, a Wookie and what looked like a rather drunk midget that was trying to drain an empty bottle while the walking lizards tried to 'subtly' laugh at the midget.

They weren't doing a very good job.

Shaking my head, I took a long pull from my drink, enjoying the burn as it crawled down my throat before sighing in contentment while I also noted the lack of effect it had on me. I knew I wasn't a heavy drinker, but I still knew the effect that a drink had on me. Either way, it didn't matter as I turned my attention to more important things, such as what the hell was going on, who did this and what kind of armor was I wearing. The first question was answered rather swiftly for me as the name and details popped right into the forefront of my brain like so many other things before it, all of which I could remember with perfect clarity.

"Wrangler Rider Body Armor..." I went silent for a moment at that as my lips twitched before I let out a small chuckle and gave a shake of the head as I considered it.

Rifts, an RPG game made by Palladium Books, something I had known about for a long time, but had only recently started investigating in any major amount of detail, mostly out of interest in the background after finding it online. Taking another sip of my drink, I looked at the information that had already sprung up in my mind and felt myself mentally gawk at it as I saw designs for a number of weapons and suits of armor, vehicles, even lore about magic, Faeries, Daemons and monsters, Magic and Psionics. The last of which immediately grabbed my attention as I delved deeper into it before finding out that I was, in fact, Psionically active. That fact was shown when, after skimming over some of the details, I felt a connection forming to this... Pool of energy, for lack of a better word, that was floating around the back of my head, not only that, but the new information that had been crammed into my head happily supplied that I was unconsciously using Telepathy to help me figure out what the hell was going on, hence why I was hearing voices.

It was a subconscious scan of people's thoughts, not really doing multiple people at the same time since that was, apparently, impossible, but I was just switching targets quickly enough that it gave the illusion of such. I smiled at that, already considering a few of the possibilities of using it in the future for things like card games and the like, I could already tell that such things would give me one hell of an advantage. Though, as I thought about it, I also considered the fact that I also knew about Magic, something that, quite honestly, would have been an even bigger force multiplier for me if I could figure out how to do it. According to my information, Magic itself, with a few exceptions, was something that anyone could use so long as they had the knowledge and training to use it, not to mention the ability to channel the needed energy. Though why I had that knowledge I had no idea, mainly because I was pretty sure that a fair number of those spells were Class specific, like how Elemental magic was limited to Warlocks and the like. Then again, I honestly wasn't sure as to how a RPG pen-and-paper game would translate if turned into real life so I couldn't really say much either way.

"Hey! What do ya think yer doing at _our_ table!?" I was suddenly brought out of my thoughts as I glanced up to see a pair of non-humans approaching me, a Rodian and a Weequay, both had blasters on their hips and both didn't look like the brightest bulbs in the lot, especially given the thoughts I was picking up.

" _Well Kirff... Looks like I'm going to need to clean up two more bodies today... Great..._ " Came the thoughts of a male Duros by the bar, probably a member of staff.

" _About time those two did something stupid enough to get themselves killed... Here's hoping this will be a good show at least..._ " Were the thoughts of a Twi'lek dancer that glanced my way, I saw a half-smirk on her face as felt her vindictiveness as thoughts of being harassed by these two idiots flashed through her brain.

" _Ah! Nothing like drinks and free entertainment... Especially when that free entertainment is going to be getting rid of a bunch of idiots..._ " I almost snorted at that as I glanced to the left, spotting the source of those thoughts coming from a Human female, who also appeared to be wearing a full suit of Orange Mandalorian armor, her helmet was on the table in front of her while head was half shadowed behind a pillar in a booth, but I got a feeling of gleeful bloodlust and anticipation coming from her.

"Hey! We're talking to yah here!" The Rodian shouted as I brought myself back to reality just as the Rodian leaned down and slapped my drink to one side, smashing the glass and spraying the contents of the rather nice drink down the seat on the other side of my booth while it dripped on to the ground. I glanced back at the remains of the glass before looking back at the Rodian, then at the Weequay before looking back at the Rodian again, noticing that the Weequay had not-so-subtly placed his hand by his Blaster pistol. Truthfully, it only made them look weak with such a heavy handed attempt to intimidate me, which failed rather drastically as I reacted.

Faster than either of the idiots could react, I lashed out, grabbed the Rodian by the hair and slammed him down to the table twice as I stood up in turn, drawing one of my Pistols in the process and firing it at the Weequay's pistol as he tried to draw it, blasting it straight out of his hand as I moved automatically, ignoring the voice in the back of my head saying not to kill them.

At this point, I was well beyond caring about letting a pair of idiots live or die, hell, at this point I was at the end of my tether since I had just been dropped into a work of fiction with some, admittedly very useful and interesting, info being dumped into my head, probably for some jackass's entertainment. I was well and truly, beyond caring.

With that in mind, I didn't wait as I moved forwards, holstering my pistol again as I took three steps as the Weequay drew a knife and tried to go for an overhead stab with the knife in a reverse grip, I rolled my eyes at that as he screamed a wordless battle cry. I had known Krav Maga before I had been yanked, and the knowledge in my head only aided me as I found myself with a more complete knowledge of the martial art, along with a few others. As such, I blocked the knife with my wrist connection with his, moving forwards and wrapping my arm around his own at the elbow before putting my other hand around his throat, a quick lift and yank and the idiot's shoulder was suddenly dislocated as I punched him in the throat with my off-hand before pulling him closer and kicking his leg out from under him. He fell flat on his ass as his friend recovered enough to try and ambush me, a step to the side stopped that as I spun in place and my elbow connected with his temple only to be caught by an M.D.C plated boot on the way down, connecting with his stomach. The hit was strong enough that the poor bastard started coughing and looking as though he was about to puke, something that I figured would make a fair bit of a mess, so I just decided to end it where things stood.

A raised foot quickly came down and slammed into the neck of the lizard-like creature with a snapping sound reverberating through the Cantina as I made sure to add a little extra pressure just to make sure before I turned to see the Weequay, who was looking at me from the ground with utter horror in his eyes, hell, a slight bit of Empathy and I knew he was scared shitless. I wasn't really interested in drawing things out, hence why I just walked over to him as he tried to crawl away, muttering pleas of mercy all the way, before I did the same with him, slamming my armored boot down on his neck, killing him quickly and easily before I sighed to myself.

"So much for having a quiet drink..." I muttered to myself as I knelt down and started looking through pockets for anything of value.

It took a few minutes, but I found a few Credit chits, three more shitty Blaster pistols, some half-full power packs, a Holocomm and what looked like either a bunch of Death sticks or some Splice, wasn't sure about which since my implanted knowledge only went so far, especially since I had very little interest in drugs. Still, it was enough as I stood back up, grabbed my helmet and the left the cantina, dropping off a credit chit on the bar counter on the way out.

"For the mess..." I muttered to the Bar tender as he nodded back, another Duros as I moved on and left the place as a quick scan told me that it was almost midnight. For that reason, I figured it would be about damned time to find somewhere to sleep the rest of the night away, especially since I needed time to process what the hell had happened, along with my own feelings that I was only just managing to keep under control.

 **XXX**

Waking up in a reasonably comfortable bed was, in my humble opinion, a hell of a lot better than waking up in the middle of a rubbish filled alleyway and half covered in Blue Milk. Groaning as my eyes opened enough for me to see the ceiling as the early rays of sunlight pierced through a set of blinds and into the room itself, one such ray catching my eye as I raised my hand to prevent myself from being blinded by the early morning sun.

Leaning up and forwards from the bed, I glanced around the room and frowned at what I saw, taking in the details as I remembered them from the previous day.

"So... It wasn't a dream..." I muttered to myself as I felt tears starting to fall. A part of me had been hoping, praying even, that this had all been just a dream so that I could wake up, finding myself in my bed in the morning and regarding the fact that I had just experienced one hell of a vivid dream. Of course, it appeared that I had no such luck as I fell backwards and glared up at the ceiling above me, I knew of Dimensional magics that might have gotten me back, but those were massive things, usually requiring that I had been to the other dimension before, but I had no idea if my own experience even counted as I continued to cry into the pillow on the motel bed I had slept on. Hell, for all I knew, the jackass that put me here had made it so that I _couldn't_ go home, else I remove the fucker's new favorite source of entertainment.

I cried over that, cursing the world as I realized that, whatever happened after this, my friends and family were probably going to be well out of reach for me, with no real way of getting to them. Still, the scenarios played out in my head as I considered what might have happened to cause me to appear here, ranging from acts of providence, random chance, reincarnation bullshit and a few dozen other ideas before I finally decided to get the fuck up and get changed, pragmatism was something I felt I could subscribe to as, even thought it still seemed heartless to me, moping around gained me nothing as I needed to get the lay of the land and start making plans since I doubted I could live off of the credits taken from idiots in bars, not only that, but stealing money, while possible, wouldn't be something that I considered as viable in the long term, at least, not without being careful to hide any trails that might lead back to me. That, however, also caused me to pause while I was having the shower as I considered the implications of killing those two, I knew I should have been feeling something, but, at best, I felt nothing about them being killed. Annoyed about them ruining that drink, along with ruining my night, yeah, but anything related to their deaths was either muted or simply not there making me think I was some kind of high-functioning Sociopath of some description, as I had little problem fitting in with the world around me.

Still, that was something to ponder further down the line.

Ten minutes later and I was done in the shower, another fifteen minutes after that and I was fully dressed in my armor again and had left the building, having only paid for a single night's stay as I found it difficult to find a motel that was trustworthy even for _that_ length of time.

Still, as I stood in the morning light, I couldn't help but smile under my visor.

This was a fresh start for me, something I looked forwards to, especially given the knowledge I had been gifted with, after all, if I knew one thing, it was this:

Knowledge is power.

 **XXX**

A lot could happen in a few months, I certainly knew that for a fact, especially after the last three months I had experienced.

During said three months, I had managed to actually get a lot of things done, some were related to my abilities, some to the knowledge that had been jammed into my skull and others were to do with the new life that I was now starting for myself, things related to how I wasn't going to be arrested for stepping on to more 'civilized' worlds without any form of identification and then immediately deported for it. Not to mention finding ways of supporting myself since I was rightfully leery of handing over tech from the Megaverse to the people in Star Wars since I had little doubt that it would, given the chance, result in shit only getting worse. And, to be honest, that said a _lot_ that my instinctual reaction to such an idea was to have two reactions at the same time, one saying 'Meh, we can take them' and the other saying 'No a chance in Hell!'

Anyway, moving onwards.

For the first point, I had discovered that I was, in fact, a Psionic. I had full use of the abilities that had been rammed into me, though it was rather weak at first since I could only use my abilities in bursts of a few seconds. Still, I had been working on it, since I had long since discovered that it worked just like any other muscle and, the more I used and trained it, the better I got with using it along with increasing the pool of energy with which I had to work with. Magic, likewise, was something I trained in even if the stuff was difficult to learn, though, I that didn't stop me from practicing a few of the spells, regardless of the fact that they were of little use beyond their sheer utility. I couldn't use magic inside of my armor, so I mainly focused on things that would help me outside of a combat situation, for one purpose or another. Still, I found that I had the best luck with common Invocations and Elemental magics, though I did have some ability with other things, such as for Biomancy, though I doubted I'd manage anything too impressive due to not embracing the lifestyle.

For the second point, I had found out a fair bit about the various pieces of information that were stored inside my head, mainly the fact that, unless I had a physical example of something, or knew the name of what I wanted to learn about, I couldn't find shit. If I knew general classifications, that made things both easier and harder, as if I searched for, say, 'Power Armor', it would show me a dozen different things about the different suits of power armor, but in a disjointed manner that made it difficult to figure anything out until I found a name. Once I had the name, I could remember it with perfect clarity, like drenching things up from a slowly shrinking pool of murky water, with each new article I discovered, I found the area I had left to search through shrinking. Of course, that still left me with one _hell_ of a large area to look through, given how big and immersive Rifts was. Not only that, but the information on how to built advanced weapons and pieces of technology was hardly useful, mainly because, while it gave full and accurate blueprints, background theory and information along with the steps of manufacturing them, that was it. It didn't help me understand anything, nor did it help me figure out how to get there, like going from start to finish while skipping all the steps between in terms of technological advancement.

In essence, I had the knowledge on how to build everything, just not the knowledge to make the _tools_ to make everything, which was rather annoying.

However, for the third point, I kind of tied a lot of things together into one solution that worked out rather well for me.

The first part of that solution came in the form of Psionics, after the first month and a half, I had developed sufficiently that I could use some of them more impressive abilities, though, my main focus was only on a select few abilities that I saw the most utility in. The list of powers varied to the point that I might as well have just practiced the whole list, but the ones that I went for straight off the bat were Telekinesis, Machine Ghost, Telepathy, Presence sense, Total recall, Telemechanic and Telemechanic operation. Those latter two have long since shown themselves to be immensely useful, especially in a Galactic civilization that had such wide spread computer networks.

With that in mind, I was able to make an identity for myself, being careful to keep it below attention as I made sure to have some kind of history behind the life I was fabricating for myself, crafting a history with a vast 'family' tree that ended with me being the sole survivor after some unspecified accident. I was half tempted to robe the Banking Clan and taken what money I could find and set myself up that way, but that would have been boring, not to mention risky since the Credits could be traced back to me easily enough. For that reason, I felt it was best to get something that would, at the very least, let me explain away my presence in any given area pretty damned quickly and without much fuss.

I applied to become a Bounty Hunter at the Bounty Hunter's Guild.

The process itself was rather easy, an application sheet where I filled in the details, got one of the older Hunters to sponsor me with a Hypnotic Suggestion in order to make it work before making him forget about it, something that was easily done since he was a rare one that had sponsored a few dozen young Hunters. Truthfully, I didn't really need to do much, just mention what I wanted and ask if he'd be interested after scoping things out for a bit, something that was rather easy given my abilities, the Hypnotic Suggestion just made the guy more willing to go through with it since he was teetering on the edge of indecision. Still, it probably helped that the Sponsors got a payment of about 25,000 Republic Credits after their candidate managed to become a full member, given by said candidate after they carried out either twenty bounties or reached a cash amount of fifty thousand Credits, whichever came first.

Once I applied, I was given a month to get that much from the local Bounty Board. With my powers, I managed to get all that, and a little extra for myself, within about two weeks.

Which, as a matter of fact, also tidally explained what I was currently doing...

 **XXX**

"Oh come on already... We both know you ain't getting away from me, mate, so why don't you just make it easier on yourself and come quietly before I do something that you're gonna regret, how's that sound?" I commented as I looked ahead of me with my hands in the pockets of the overcoat built on to my armor, glancing upwards, I saw my latest mark. Said mark was currently trying to get away from me by climbing a chain link fence that blocked part of an alleyway on Nal Hutta, an overweight Mirialan wearing thick robes and who seemed to have at least three chins. Honestly, I had no idea how that even worked, but I wasn't going to comment on it as I watched with no small amount of amusement as the idiot tried to continue climbing, sweat dripping down into a puddle below him. Calmly, I glanced down as I checked the ammo in my Revolver, one of the first things I had reproduced from my knowledge of Rifts, a TX-6 Revolver, it was fully loaded, as it had been the last twelve times I had checked over the course of five minutes.

What made it even funnier was the fact that the idiot wasn't even halfway up the four metre tall fence yet, my eyes were about level with the fat fucker's ankles.

"Kriff that...! You'll never take me alive, you Bantha Poodoo...!" He bellowed out between pants for air, I was honestly half tempted to grant that request by just killing the stupid fucker as the temptation to blast his head and watch it explode like an overly-ripe melon was rather substantial. Then again, I decided against it, the Hutts wanted this idiot alive to punish him for, apparently, failing to pay back his gambling debts, not to mention the interest that they wanted on said depts.

Sighing to myself as I put the Revolver away in a holster under my arm, inside my overcoat, as I drew one of my DL-44s, lazily, I pointed it upwards before pulling the trigger, a halo of blue energy escaping the barrel of the gun as I watched it hit the fat fucker and then saw him drop to the ground a second later. I sneered as I saw him hit the ground, glad I was wearing a full environmentally sealed suit of armor since I knew from experience that those stun blasts caused people to stink of burnt hair, one such example being when I had to catch a Wookie where the hit had actually set the fucker on _fire_. I smiled at the memory before frowning again as I looked down at the barrel of lard.

"Well... This is going to be a pain in the ass..." I muttered to myself as I got to work, reaching into my overcoat as I pulled out a two stun cuffs, a length of chain and what could have passed for a hi-tech padlock, rather simple stuff, but remarkably useful. Securing the idiots arms and legs before hogtying them together with the chain, I smiled inside my helmet as I pulled the bastard up, aided by my Telekinesis to lift the fat fucker a bit more easily as I turned, the fucker hanging over my shoulder as I moved forwards. Honestly, it was rather easy to do, practically being like second nature as I had long since developed certain powers to the point that I could use them on instinct, telekinesis being but one of them.

It especially helped that I had plenty of practice doing as much, mainly through the same method that I had managed to make my nice Revolver.

Shaking my head as I walked, I couldn't help the amused smile as I continued walking on autopilot through the streets of Nal Hutta. Honestly, I had no idea why the hell no one else didn't do what I did, Telekinesis was a potent thing, able to move objects around with nothing more than a single thought, whether those objects be an entire gunship... Or a single atom. It took a while getting the skill to that level, but it was worth it, combined with the Create Steel spell, and I had a rather good base for making a few of the simpler technologies, such as my new revolver, but I knew that such things wouldn't help me in the long run. For the long run, I would need much more than that, especially as I knew what was coming with the Naboo Crisis, the Clone Wars, the Rebellion, the Vong and all the other shit thrown in for good measure.

Still, even as I arrived at my destination, dropping my mark off to face the _tender_ mercies of Arok of the Hutt Besadii Kajidic, getting paid a rather handsome amount for handing in the idiot who hadn't even had the brains to try and escape off world. Admittedly, that wasn't going to happen, but it still made me wonder if his gambling, drinking and drug addictions had merely been exasperating the simple fact that he was a stupid fucker. I smirked at the thought as I walked out the door of the Hutt's Palace, the sounds of whimpering, screaming and begging coming through the blast doors behind me.

Another successful day in the life of a bounty hunter.

 **XXX**

AN: Ok, there is the first chapter of this new story, hope you enjoyed it! Until next time!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing; this is purely for recreational purposes.

 **XXX**

"Ok now... Let's see if I've got this done right..." I muttered to myself as I worked on my latest project within the hold of a new ship of mine. It had been over five months since I had appeared in the Star Wars universe, around the tail end of 38 BBY, soon to be 37 BBY, if my conversion of dating systems was accurate, then again, I had a feeling that even those in charge of keeping the calendar straight had trouble doing it themselves. I shook my head in amusement as I leaned back in my chair, glancing around the hold of my ship, a rather nice G9 Rigger-class light freighter that I had ended up calling _Dakka Hunter_ as a bit of an inside joke.

Even if it wasn't all that funny.

"Ok... That looks about right... Now, time to test to see if I did everything properly." I muttered to myself as I ejected a disc from the computer I was working on, a copy of a complex program that was designed to function as the main operating system for a machine that I believed would be invaluable to me in the future. Turning in my seat in the cargo bay of my ship, I took in the sight of what was awaiting me in the middle of the rather large chamber.

A four by two grouping of droids that looked vaguely like T-800 Terminators, but with a much more intimidating appearance, thicker plating and with what looked like a pair of massive fangs on their jaws that could be used to bit into targets for more damage. They had been one of my more recent projects, an attempt to start making a work force that could take on anything I might face, within the current time frame, and come out on top. They were A-63 All-purpose Heavy Robots, or Droids based on the local terminology, each one made as a replica of those used within Rifts and each one just as dangerous.

Of course, with them, I had programmed the new AI for them to not only include their old skills, but new ones like acting as Protocol Droids with knowledge about the most common languages, Starship engineers and even Assassins. All of that was possible thanks to the fact that I had spent a good, _long_ time looking for the Droid Protocols needed to install these different abilities, along with learning enough to be able to dissect them and integrate them into the machines. Now, though...

Now, all that was left was to turn the machines on and see if it worked as I wanted it to.

With that, I breathed in and out before stepping forwards, kneeling down next to a crate that had another computer terminal resting on it, from said computer terminal, a web of wires came out and connected to each of the eight machines, connecting to hidden access ports that were located under the armor plating around the left side, tucked under a panel that was in the gap between the side of the lower torso and the ribcage that came out from the upper torso. I knew this was rather well done, a very good way to keep the damned things hidden and make it as difficult as possible to reprogram them, something that I knew would be difficult, since they were programmed to self-destruct upon their destruction.

Though, even as I plugged in the disc and watched as it compiled, running a few final tests before I installed it, I smirked as I considered the alterations I had made. Mainly, those came in the form of a new power source built using the local technologies, each of these machines now being supplied with energy via a Nuclear Fusion generator that, without refilling it, would be able to last for _years_ and was capable of burning most elements with the exception of Iron or any element heavier than Iron. A Fusion torch was included as well, mostly to prevent Iron from forming and recycle it all, but it still needed to be refilled every once in a while. Along with that, these Droids also had an augmented amount of advanced sensors to make them even more dangerous, Bio-scanners included.

Looking down, I saw the error check come back with no errors in my work, rather happy with that as I considered the knowledge dump I had been given once more with a half-smirk before pressing the enter button on the keyboard in front of me. A progress bar filled the screen a moment later as I sat in front of the screen, allowing myself to fall deeper into thought.

The knowledge I had been given was useful, but it had its limits, the skills had countless uses, but the technological information was a bit more difficult to use since it relied upon a completely different, and more advanced, tech-base than what was currently available in this universe. M.D. materials, something that I required, were made using nanotechnologies to finely intermesh and craft the materials from their raw materials, sometimes skipping any form of refinement and simply using the raw ores as well. I had already build one such device, a crude replica of what was supposed to be a much more advanced system, but one that I barely understood due to it feeling like I only had partially completed blueprints for the technology. Still, it managed to do the job I required when it produced enough parts for me to see the completion of these eight robots, the production of parts wasn't particularly fast, but it did work, and it worked well since the parts were designed to resist Mega-Damage level weapon's fire. Such weapons were, as I had come to realize, rare in Star Wars, the closest thing I had found were Disruptors for infantry level, but, aside from those, nothing short of the weapons mounted on some heavy vehicles or starships would be all that effective, as I had found out when someone had shot me in the face and the visor of my armor took the shot without difficulty. It was a pain in the ass fixing it, but it was worth it.

However, as I thought about such things, I considered the downside of such technologies. Chief among them was the hardwired directive to prevent the nanotechnology from self-replicating along with the physical lack of manipulators precise enough to do just that. Not only that, but the stuff wouldn't work outside of a narrowly defined environment, meaning I couldn't just drop a single nano-machine on an asteroid and get a new ship in a day. Honestly, I thought it was rather impressive, even though it was annoying, since it effectively prevented any chance of a Grey Goo scenario playing out.

I blinked as I heard my terminal sound off that it was finished, causing me to look up just in time to see the optics of my machines blaze to life as each of them straightened up from the slight slouch in its posture, absently grabbing the cable that connected each of them to the terminal before pulling it out as they looked over to me. Taking a few steps forwards, I couldn't help but smirk as I saw them moving with an efficient, almost graceful, step, very different from this universe's Droids.

"We await your orders, Master Michael Drake." The leading machine stated as the others followed it along, it's voice being little more than a metallic growl. I smiled at that as I considered the name, the Archangel of War and the surname of Francis Drake, an English Privateer and Explorer, I thought it worked well for a new name as I nodded towards them as I stood up, grabbing my helmet with a smile still on my face.

"Begin work on this ship. Maintain and guard it should the need arise, along with operating the Nanofabrication unit in order to create a number of items." I gestured towards the terminal on the crate. "That terminal contains the information regarding the items I want made, along with the number of which I wish to be produced. Aside from that, remain out of sight and do not attract any attention to yourselves, or myself. Is that understood?"

"We hear and obey." They replied in unison as I nodded.

"Good. You may begin work as soon as possible, I will be leaving shortly to see about gathering more materials and funds, close the ramp behind me and I'll open it back up when I return." I stated as I started walking out of the cargo bay. On the way out, I grabbed my helmet and slapped it into place over my head, sealing my armor shut before walking out the ship, the sound heavy metal impacts resonating behind me as I walked down the ramp before it sealed behind me. I smiled at that.

At least I had one less thing to worry about.

 **XXX**

"Humm?" I hummed as I heard my comlink beep to inform me that a new message had just come in. A subtle gesture and I had the message appearing on the inside of my helmet, an integrated HUD allowing me to read it without anyone being the wiser.

"Humm... Well, isn't that interesting..." I muttered to myself as I read over the message once more to make sure I had all the details before closing it down.

Apparently, it was a message to show that a new bounty was out, and it was out on a former Bounty Hunter within the Guild, a female Hunter that had always worn her armor around others, kept quiet and always got the job done. It seemed that someone really didn't like just how effective she was, since she had apparently just gained a bounty worth over five million Credits alive, half that dead. I honestly couldn't help but think that something was off about that, since, as far as I knew, that kind of bounty only came about if you either knew something that someone didn't want being spread around... Or you had really pissed off the Hutts.

I was willing to put my money on the former.

Still, either way, I'd get my answers since I had apparently gotten lucky, the Hunter, called Avun, was on Eraidu.

Yeah, as some of the locals would say, the Force was with me.

With that in mind, I looked around me, taking in the dense crowds of people around me as I looked around for what I needed before I spotted it in the corner of my eye, a small computer terminal built into a wall near what looked like a cafe. I smiled at that as I walked over to the cafe, for what I needed, I merely had to be close to the machine as I went in, ordered a cup of Caf, no milk or sugar, as I let my mind wonder through the cyberspace of the planet. It didn't take more than ten minutes to find the target I was after either, though that had nothing to do with me being good at what I did since she was currently in the middle of a high speed chase on Repulsorlift craft that were currently flying through the afternoon traffic. Avun was currently in a hijacked EasyRide Passenger Airspeeder while the various thugs chasing her seemed to all have grabbed similar, yet modified versions of the same model. A quick check and I found that the chase was currently only a few kilometres away, something that was more than good enough for me as I made my way to the nearest Transit point and hopped on a Taxi as I checked my weapons.

Whatever was going on, I intended to sort that out before I considered whether or not to turn her bounty in.

 **XXX**

Kammi'avun'nera, known to the wider Galaxy as Avun, cursed under her breath in as many languages as she knew, not out of anger, but due to her own sloppiness at having not managed to make a clean escape nor having managed to escape unharmed. Now, she was in the middle of a mid-air chase through the busy skyline of Eraidu with at least three Airspeeders filled with thugs chasing after her, each one spraying Blaster Bolts her way rather indiscriminately, not even bothering about the potential collateral damage.

And, if things weren't bad enough, she now had to worry about the bounty on her head, since she had gotten the customary notification telling her as much during this little chase. Internally, she felt her annoyance flare as she leaned out of her cover behind a padded chair and fired off a few more Blaster Bolts with her Rifle one-handed while keeping her free hand firmly attached to her abs, pressing a rag drenched in Bacta into the hole in her Durasteel armor as she worked to stop the bleeding. Avun dared not take her armor off to fix it properly, but she had little choice in the matter, not to mention the fact that she still had _other_ injuries to worry about, like the metal rod stuck in her left thigh or the second degree burns along the forearm of her free arm.

Truthfully, she gave her chances of escaping after she left this Airspeeder a rather low chance of success, never mind her chances of getting off the planet and out of the system.

Leaning back up, she fired off another few bolts with a calmness that belayed her nervousness at the idea of her own death, scoring multiple hits, killing five men outright while injuring several more, three men were even tossed off the side of the Speeders as the impacts, along with their own foot placements, did the rest. She allowed a small smile to cross her features before she frowned slightly as she glanced around, noticing another group of Speeders approaching, all filled with thugs.

Kammi'avun'nera sighed in annoyance at that, especially as she used the controls on the side of her helmet to magnify the images, much to her own despair.

At least five of the new thugs carried what looked like rocket launchers, their faces twisting into smirks as her eyes widened in slight surprise, having not expected that level of firepower from a low-level smuggling syndicate. Twisting slightly, rammed her boot into the searing wheel, sending the Airspeeder into a nose dive towards the ground below as she kicked it once more, throwing the craft into a virtually unpredictable flight path.

Still, it wasn't enough even as she fired off a few bolts at the approaching thugs, killing a few more with her gun camera-augmented aim, but it made little difference as the missiles launched. The four missiles, due to killing one of the gunners, roared through the air towards her Airspeeder and high speed, twisting the controls once more, she tried to avoid them, but such a maneuver was only a partial success as only two of the missiles were thrown off, the other two hit the rear of the craft, rocking it into the air as she grimaced in pain as her injuries were jostled and she was thrown from her seat.

Keeping a hand on her injuries, she was lucky as the blast was dampened by the remains of the airspeeder, however, the blast wave still threw her from the craft with a significant amount of force, the only saving grace being that she was near the ground. Thus, when the hidden Chiss hit the ground, the padding on her armor worked to save her even as she rolled, though she groaned as the metal rod was pushed a bit deeper for an instant as she was glad she had taken the time to use armor sealant to keep the wound from getting worse and keeping the rod in place.

"I will not be doing that again..." Avun remarked to herself as she struggled to get up, knowing that she shouldn't remain idle for long as she didn't wish to be killed or, worse, captured.

"You can be damned sure of that, bitch." Came an unwelcome voice as she glanced in the direction of the voice and frowned, the biggest display of her despair that she was willing to allow as she saw the gathered forms of the thugs that had been chasing her, the speaker being a Human male at their head with an oversized Heavy blaster pistol, a mechanical eye and a rather large Vibro-Axe at his side. He was grinning victoriously as she glanced around, being sure to not give any indication of her internal panic as she looked for an exit or her weapon, the former were rapidly closing as thugs spread out to encircle her and the clearing. As for her Blaster rifle, that was out of reach as her gun camera informed her that it was on the other side of the clearing with a good view of her right side, giving her a perfect view of just how kirffed she was.

Still, she allowed none of it to show as she saw the thug marching forwards with an air of satisfaction to him.

"Well, bitch, normally, we would have you dragged back to the boss for him to make an example of you, to show the others why you don't mess with the Hidden Hand, but it seems you're a bit of an exception..." He stated smugly as he lowered his Blaster rifle and pointed it at her chest, right over her heart. Absently, she noted the oversized power pack and XCiter, meaning that each individual bolt was about three times as powerful as a normal shot from an unmodified version of the weapon, which was actually a sawed-off Blaster rifle. At this range, she knew it would punch right through her Duranium-plated Durasteel armor.

Then again, she mused, it hardly mattered, especially since she could feel the blood lose finally getting to her as darkness crept around the edges of her vision. By her mental math, she would be dead before the Bantha Herder standing over her was done gloating and finally kill her.

However, just as her vision finally faded to black, the last thing she saw was her wound-be executioner disappearing in an explosion of red as an equally explosive _**Bang!**_ rang through the air.

 **XXX**

The first thing I saw as I rushed into the clearing was a thug standing over my latest project of curiosity with an oversized and, probably, overpowered Blaster pistol that looked like it had been slapped together from random parts that barely fit together. I didn't bother rolling my eyes, thinking about how it had been forced together and barely operational, I was much too busy moving, assessing targets and selecting which one to target first, as such, I drew two of my four pistols, one in either hand as I began the fight, both had only been made in the last month, upgrades to my personal armory.

In my left hand, I held a modified CP-20 Laser Pulse pistol, it's E-clips replaced with the power cells of this universe, giving it over sixty shots and with its sound maker removed to allow me to move with supreme stealth. In my right hand, I held an unmodified BigBore 'Big Boss' Magnum Revolver.

I fired with my right hand first. The results were, as I had learned quite a while ago, spectacular.

As was the recoil.

Still, my first target didn't even get time to consider what the hell had just happened as he suddenly found himself exploding in a shower of gore as I stepped into the clearing and kept moving, already pulling back the hammer of the massive revolver and firing three more times until it was empty, glad I had the physical strength to do as much as the next three shots exploded in the midst of the thugs, taking killing five of them as two others had wandered a bit close to my targets and were killed in the blast as a result. I smirked at that as I holstered that weapon and drew my spare CP-30, the one in my left hand already firing away as I started killing, invisible beams of light killing each thug they hit as I saw the beams burning through flesh. I found it amusing as the thugs rapidly found themselves being cut down, but were unsure as to where the fire was coming from until I stepped more fully into view and, by that point, their numbers had been cut down from around 57 to just under thirty.

When I came into view, what remained of the thugs scrambled for cover as I continued walking, taking note of a few of them raising heavy weapons, mainly missile launchers, but dealt with them with two swift shots, one to the weapon and another straight through their brains. Return fire came rapidly, but the aim was absolutely abysmal, those few shots that _did_ hit weren't much of a bother as I brushed them off, once more amused by just how weak SW weapons were in comparison to those of Rifts Earth and the Megaverse. Still, the result was the same as I fired off a few more shots, scoring kill shots through the chest and face even as a few grazed the legs and arms of others, punching through cover and burning flesh and muscle. Painful wounds, survivable wounds, but still very painful.

Twisting into cover behind a thick pole holding a set of lights above it, I smirked as I glanced down to check my guns, both still having plenty of ammo as I glanced back out to see some of the thugs trying to make a getaway, something I wasn't willing to allow as I leaned out an fired, killing them as Laser fire punched through whatever armor they had. Low-quality Durasteel did very little against a pistol that had inflicted Mega-damage on its target, something the thugs found out when shots burned through their hearts and out their chests. It didn't take long until only a few were left, but those few that remained were of little use as their aim was shaky, at best, and they were slowly starting to stutter back, limbs shaking in turn as I saw their panic and fear, even without my Psionics.

"P-please... Have M-mercy..." One whimpered as he collapsed to his knees and begged, I just glanced in his direction before a snap shot burned through his forehead. The total engagement lasting little more than a minute, but that was enough as I turned back to the main reason I was there as I swiftly holstered my weapons and speed walked over to the downed Hunter. Once I was within arm's reach, I got to work to quickly stabilize her with what healing abilities that I was proficient at, which was a fair number since some bounties were required to be... _Recognizable_ when I was forced to turn them in alive.

Using a mixture of Induce Sleep, Healing Touch and Stop Bleeding, I healed her, not enough to say that she was fully healed, but certainly enough to allow me to move her quickly as I had no wish to remain in the immediate area while more thugs were, without a doubt, on the way. Within moments, the Hunter had stopped bleeding, the more life threatening injuries were repaired, somewhat, and I was ready to pick her up as I absently placed a hand on the remains of the blaster that belonged to the lead thug. Object Read had long since become an ability that was beyond useful, as it proved once more as I suddenly learned about the weapon's owner, and the organization that he had belonged to.

"Interesting..." I muttered out as I quickly stood up, using a Telekinetic Lift to aid me in lifting the woman up before I made me exit from the scene of the crash and slaughter.

It would take me a twenty minutes to reach my ship, which I then put on lock down, and another five minutes after that to scour the local networks to see if I had been caught on any cameras or the like, another three minutes after that and the film was doctored and changed, making it seem like the woman had managed to make a successful get away without my intervention. However, I honestly wasn't sure how much the film would hold up to scrutiny, though, that hardly mattered as I got to work back at my ship.

Once the ship was locked down, I had the robots start moving to the entry points of the ship, ensuring they were guarded while I tended to my guest, placing her on a cot inside the modified Cargo Chef's station that I had converted into a series of cells. Without much ceremony, I quickly removed the armor pieces that covered the woman's body, raising an eyebrow in surprise at seeing that she was, in fact, a Chiss, before carrying on without much more ceremony as I used other abilities to aid her healing. Mainly, I focused on speeding up her recovery as I worked to close her wounds and, hopefully, prevent some scaring as I left her in little more than a skin-tight thermal suit, a one piece suit that left everything but her hands, feet and head from the neck upwards covered. There were a few holes in it, but those hardly mattered as I searched for any weapons before reinforcing the Induce Sleep I had put on her, keeping her under for another six hours while I implanted a few Hypnotic Suggestions into her.

Honestly, that power alone was something I _really_ found morally ambiguous, but it was something that, I had found, when paired with Telekinesis, was beyond potent as it meant that suggestions no longer needed to be worked into a person verbally. It had come in useful more than once to obtain one Bounty or another, even for something as simple as haggling with shifty as all hell Merchants for something I needed, and now I was using it to make sure that this Chiss wouldn't try attacking me or making a run for it once she woke up, nor trying to arm herself unless she came under attack. Along with that, I also made sure to add a compulsion not to try to either flee, sabotage my ship or my equipment, or try and steal my stuff.

With that done, I left the room after being sure to lock the cell behind me, mostly to check on things, but also to see about preparing some food for my guest and doing a bit of research as well. Absently, on the way to the refurbished Crew Quarters that I had turned into two bedrooms with attached Refreshers, I noted the progress of the machines in fabricating the items I had requested.

I smiled especially when I saw the medical supplies, those would come in useful in the future, especially since I wouldn't need to expend energy to use them, along with their improved effectiveness. Not to mention the fact that they were a shit load more effective than Bacta.

 **XXX**

Upon regaining consciousness, the first that Avun noticed was that was, unexpectedly, alive. She noted that even as she looked up at the unfamiliar ceiling and frowned slightly as she slipped her eyes closed once more, stilling herself as she considered the most likely outcome from what she remembered.

She remembered being in the clearing, surrounded by thugs of the 'Hidden Hand' and about to die. Then, as she had fallen unconscious, her would-be executioner had exploded into a mist of gore, something that she could only assume was caused by the person who had brought her here, wherever 'here' was. Still, if she was alive, that meant that her rescuer had wanted her for something, the first of which that immediately came to mind being for her Bounty as she considered the fact that she was unarmed, unarmored and wearing nothing but her Thermal suit and undergarments. Suddenly, she heard the sound of heavy boots on Durasteel that were coming closer as she listened, the sound of a cell door being opened, making it clear that she was a prisoner, as she heard the boots continue to move.

"You can stop pretending to be asleep, Huntress Avun. There is little point in continuing such a facade, especially when I mean you no harm." The voice came suddenly, as she noted that the speaker was close by as she opened her eyes and turned to the source of the voice. Leaning up, she kept her eyes on the speaker as she noted that, yes, she was in a makeshift cell of some kind. As for the speaker, he looked to be a Human male with dark brown eyes and hair, a face with sharp features lacking baby fact with a hard chin. His hair was cut short and looked like something one would expect from a highly disciplined, planetary military, like what was expected back in the Chiss Ascendency, but what really caught her attention was his eyes, eyes that, while being primarily brown, seemed to have a ring of silver around the pupil that made them stand out. Turning her attention elsewhere, Avun noted the armor of her savior/warden and felt her lips slip down from their neutral position, she recognized it with ease, having always been one to keep an eye on the competition.

And the Bounty Hunter known as Michael 'Rancor Hunter' Drake, was one that she had _definitely_ counted as serious competition, despite the man only appearing a few months ago. Within those few months, he had become a figure of not-so-minor interest as he turned in Bounty after Bounty after Bounty with a speed and efficiency that she found impressive, almost Chiss in a way. Most of his targets were returned, usually dead, but a fair number were turned in alive and with their faces intact enough to recognize, but with a fair number of bones broken and organs ruptured, making it a near thing. His nickname of 'Rancor Hunter' came from the pair of facts that, for one, the man had a serious temper when someone pissed him off, the main example being that he had once chased a target halfway up the Hydian way just because said target had destroyed a recent purchase of materials that he was, without a doubt, going to use to make something in his ship. The second reason for the name was due to him being hired to hunt down a former Jedi that happened to have some skill at controlling animals and had taken refuge on Felucia. He took the bounty before disappearing for three weeks, before returning with his target, chained up and sedated with a complex rig of injectors and medical scanners he had rigged up.

However, according to the story, what really earned him the name was that, the day after he turned in the bounty, he made a trip to the markets of Nar Shaddaa and sold a few dozen cured skins along with a number of skulls and bones.

Rancor Leather along with Rancor skulls and bones, giving him his new name.

"What do you want?" She asked after her moment of thought, considering the man for a moment. He looked her back and, surprisingly, nodded.

"Good, you're not jumping straight into things and are asking me as to what I want. I see that you are not suffering from any cognitive injuries, though I have already checked just to be sure. Then again, I didn't want to risk it since I have little biological data regarding the Chiss." Her head snapped round as she heard that word, her eyes wide as she fought to keep her shock and surprise from further showing.

"Then I can say that you have done an excellent job. Though, I find such an action counterproductive since you are bound to hand me over to the Hidden Hand soon enough." She remarked smoothly, staring at him in what she had learned was an unnerving manner, but, instead of being unnerved, the man was amused.

"Not quite. I merely wish to hear the full story as to what happened for you to get such a large bounty placed on your head so soon after you just turned in your last one." He remarked as he leaned back in his seat, arms crossed and a frown playing across his lips.

"The whole situation struck me as odd, hence why I haven't turned you over to them, since I wish to get some answers first." Gesturing to her, he continued on as she simply remained silent. "About three hours before your Bounty was posted, you had just turned in a Bounty for one Lassas Gussist, a freelance Deveronian Information Broker and Slicer that had gained a five million Credit Bounty from the Hutts after being caught stealing information from them and selling it to third parties. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but Mr Gussist also happened to have a rather good relationship with some members of the upper management of the Hidden Hand, and, when you turned in the Bounty, they decided to get back at you for removing one of their sources of information among the Hutts, their competition."

Avun considered those facts, along with how to answer, since it was clear that Michael had done his homework and researched the topic while she was asleep, healing from her injuries. She nodded in turn, rather impressed by the accuracy of the information since, she had learned, few people seemed to value doing their research to learn more about potential enemies, unless they were already enemies, which, to her, showed a lack of foresight.

"That is correct, though I did not believe that they would react so violently to having one of their sources cut off, nor did I think the Broker had such potent allies." She remarked, getting a nod from the other Hunter.

"Understandable, they tried to keep that relationship rather low-key, usually communicating through drop-offs and the like, they were careful, but they still left a trail of breadcrumbs that one could find if they knew where to look." He stated as the Human, at least that is what he appeared to be, pulled a datapad out from the inside of his coat and handed it to her.

"The man that posted the Bounty on you was a Human by the name of Ashtale Weasill, the one of the top officers of the Hidden Hand. He is an accomplished Smuggler himself, along with a rather colourful past as both a Mercenary and a Pirate. He has done work with a large number of corporations, mostly to transport a number of less-than-legal cargos along with intercepting their rivals to ensure that some cargos either arrive late or don't arrival at all, as a means of discrediting them. He was the point of contact for the Broker, along with a few other Brokers on and off the planet, but there is something I'm sure you will be more interested in..." He remarked as she glanced down at the bottom of the page and, while her face remained passive, she felt vindictive anticipation at what she saw.

"He has a Bounty on his head." She remarked as the Rancor Hunter nodded with ease.

"Him and a fair number of his upper management. The collective bounty of all of them together is in the region of 32 million Credits if all of them are dead, or up to 47 million for them all alive. They apparently earned that much through repeatedly interfering in the operations of both the Hutts and the Black Suns, neither of which were really interested in gaining more competition over the galactic underworld." He remarked as Avun nodded at that, it was understandable that criminals didn't want more competition, more competition meant they would have to work harder for their Credits, especially for some of their more lucrative endeavors. However, one question came to mind.

"And what of my Bounty?" She asked, curious as to what he would say. He shrugged as he answered.

"The Guild does a Credit check on the accounts of those that posted the Bounties, to make sure they have enough to pay it off. If the account doesn't have enough, they automatically remove the Bounty until the account does. If it is either closed or does not manage to meet the agreed upon amount within a week, then the Bounty is removed and not put up again unless it is reposted." He stated calmly, once more impressing her slightly by the fact he had clearly researched what was happening.

"So the most effective method to remove my Bounty would be to track down this Weasill, kill him, hack his account for all the funds within it and then turn in his Bounty as I would no longer be a target, correct?" She asked, getting a nod.

"Yes, though you should know that the man apparently has several accounts under different names, along with an amount of funds he keeps in Credit chits and out of circulation, not to mention as bars of valuable materials. Though, those would probably be a good start since, while you were out, the man ordered your ship to be destroyed, sorry about that, but there was nothing I could have done about it without linking myself to you and painting a target on us both." He remarked as she nodded, understanding the logic, even if she disliked it since it meant she would need to find another ship and modify it the way her old CSS-1 Corellian Star Shuttle. She had kept a fair amount of equipment on that ship, and felt annoyed of having to either make, buy or modify everything all over again, not to mention her keepsakes...

As if understanding what she was feeling, the other Hunter stood up from his seat and walked away from her, giving her some time to herself in order to come to terms with her last traces of home being destroyed.

As he left, she finally noted her lack of attempts to escape, nor even any attempts to harm him even when he had come into arm's reach of her.

"Curious..." She muttered as her mind started analysing what had happened and why there was a disconnect between her thoughts and actions before turning to see the retreating form of the other Hunter as he left the chamber.

It seems that she might have been a bit quick to consider him Human, or, at least, a normal Human...

 **XXX**

I made a note to remove the compulsions in time, though I was more likely just to put timers on them so that they would remove themselves after a given amount of time, easier that way and less likely to get me in any bother. Though, I already knew that Avun, as her file stated her name was, already suspected something, her thoughts having already filled with possibilities of what I might have done along with considerations as to what I might be capable of. She seemed to be approaching the problem with the typical Chiss mentality of looking at all angles of a problem to find a solution, however, the problem with that was that she didn't have enough data to work with, something I had worked hard to ensure since I didn't like the idea of people knowing all my tricks, nor of becoming too predictable.

Still, Avun was actually making a few interesting theories about me, more than one seemed to be that I either was a former Padawan of the Jedi, a self-taught Force User, or a member of a race of beings with natural Force abilities that merely looked Human. I found that last one a bit funny due to the fact that, while I _did_ have that odd silver ring around my pupils, I had done multiple DNA tests, just to confirm that I was, in fact, Human.

Mentally, I considered about whether or not I should have the results out for her to see before I shook my head, no, it was better to allow her to reach her own conclusion based off of assumptions that was nowhere near as accurate as the truth.

Stepping into the Hold, I glanced around before moving over to a crate where I had piled up her equipment after having fixed the holes in the armor. The armor itself was rather nice, looking rather similar to the armor worn by the bounty hunter from the 'Deceived' trailer, but without the jetpack or the hose connecting it to her chest plate, along with the colours being white, silver and black. A rather odd choice of colours, especially with white as the primary colour, even though it was dulled, but it seemed to work for her. Fixing the Durasteel plates was easy, but fixing the Duranium coating was a bit more difficult as I had to go out and buy a few ingots of the stuff off a local merchant who dealt with the materials.

As for weapons, she had lost her rifle along with her pistol, so I ended up getting her something else since I had been out anyway, not to mention the fact that having her unarmed for this would have done more harm than good. As a result, I planned to give her a pair of WESTAR-35 Blaster Pistols along with a Blaster Carbine that looked like an enlarged version of the same weapon, if she didn't like it, then she could pick up a few new weapons once the job was finished, I had little care for that as I checked over the stuff, just to make sure it was good to go even as I felt something shift. With a quick Presence Sense, I found that the Chiss had decided to move on from her grieving and had joined me in the cargo hold. I glanced briefly her way as I got a better look at her, her thermal suit really leaving nothing to the imagination while I saw her scanning the room, clearly trying to figure out what everything was even as she cast a cautious look at the robots I had guarding the room. I said nothing as she came closer, but turned as I saw her approaching.

"Feeling better?" I asked quietly as I nodded to her. She nodded back as she walked over to me, letting me see that she was quite tall, at least fifteen centimetres shorter than I was, while I stood around 2.1 metres tall. Though, I could have done without my mind automatically telling me that her three sizes were around 96-62-89 centimetres, though it was nice, it was also rather distracting.

"Yes, though, I will feel much better once I no longer have a Bounty on my head. Especially after those piles of Bantha Poodoo are no longer among the living." She stated as she glanced at her armor and the weapons I had laid out for her. I took that as a chance and quickly undid a bit of the Suggestions I had planted in her before leaving the others on timers to undo themselves in a few days.

"Impressive work repairing my armor, though I'm surprised about the weapons. Were they yours?" She asked, looking for more information as she glanced to my side, along with glancing to the heavy-looking rifles held by my robots as I shook my head.

"No, got them while I was out looking for more information on the targets and getting a few supplies. Figured you might want something a bit more familiar to you than what I use." I remarked as she nodded to me before grabbing the armor's chest plate and running a hand over it, the dull white giving away nothing as she glanced at me from the corner of her eye, even as it was hidden by the pixie cut of raven hair.

"It will take me a few minutes to change into my armor, I assume that you will be ready by then?" She asked as I simply nodded, seeing no reason to say much more as she nodded back before walking away, my eyes being drawn to her ass as she moved.

Seriously! Why was it that every female in Star Wars was either average looking or virtually drop dead gorgeous!?

 **XXX**

For the female Chiss, she found herself surprisingly refreshed as she worked alongside the Rancor Hunter. As she had long since learned, most Hunters tended to work by the seat of their pants when carrying out a Bounty, simply selecting it by which one had the largest Bounty before going from there, often times without doing anything but the most basic of research on their target to find their location before moving in on their mark.

With Michael, however, she found someone that seemed to share her same method of researching each Bounty, usually by what had the most gain for the least amount of risk while still offering her the chance to gain decent bounties. He mostly did so on a case-by-case basis, but he was effective at what he did as, during the twenty minutes it took her to finish putting on her armor along with checking all her equipment for any faults he might have missed, he had compiled detailed files on each member of the Hidden Hand's upper management. These files included comprehensive information regarding favored weapons and tactics, their ship registrations and even things like where they liked to frequent to give a more in-depth examination of the people they were hunting. Honestly speaking, that kind of thoroughness would have fit right in among the Chiss, causing Avun to, out of amusement, think that Drake might have actually been a Chiss born with the wrong colour of skin.

An hour after he had managed to gather all of that information, they had learned that their targets, with the exception of a few of the lower ranking members, were going to be meeting at a high-end bar and nightclub called 'The Drop Zone', near one of the smaller Spaceports for the planet. The bar itself was apparently run by one of their members, but that really didn't change much as Michael drove the pair of them to a rather nice spot where they could overlook the nightclub. Even then, they were even able to see straight into the room their targets were in thanks to the large number of windows that they had before them.

It was also at that point that Michael pulled a rather large Sniper rifle-like weapon from a holding bag, along with a what looked like a briefcase, before placing the latter under his coat and just behind his left belt holster, holding it in place with magnetic clamps, while he laid down and took aim with the sniper.

"I've got eyes on at least fifteen of out targets. I repeat, one-five targets. Can you see any of the others on the list?" He asked as she shook her head even as she answered, again, it hardly mattered, but being thorough was a rather nice thing to do as it meant that they wouldn't have to deal with stragglers and revenge seekers.

"No. Aside from a few guards located around the room, nothing else. Though, from what I can tell, that room is soundproofed since my microphone isn't picking up any of the music from the lower levels of the club." She replied as she regarded them for a moment, she could hear them as a sensitive beam bounced back from the thick windows, carrying audio back with it, but with none of the heavy bets that she could hear coming from the opening and closing doors of the club, even with them being a good few dozen floors below her and her temporary partner.

"Good. Means that we won't need to worry about being interrupted if we do an on the spot interrogation of their leader." Michael remarked as Avun regarded him for a moment.

"... Would it not be easier to carry him back to your ship before doing such a thing?" She remarked as he gave a shrug.

"I have a few tricks that could make it easier either way, but doing it on the spot means that we won't have to worry about being compromised as we drag his sorry ass back to the _Dakka Hunter_ , though, that still depends on you." He remarked as she felt an eyebrow rise at that remark.

"Me?" Avun repeated as Michael nodded.

"Yes, since he was the fucker that wronged you." The other hunter noted as she took a moment to consider that before nodding, it only made sense that she was the one to 'settle the debt', as she had learned was the term.

"Very well, kill everyone but their leader, cripple him and we can carry out the interrogation within their conference room if we're quick enough to prevent any alarms from being raised." Michael nodded at that.

"Don't worry about the alarms, those have been taken care of." Avun felt her eyebrows rise once more, wondering just what Michael Drake had done if he was so confident, but, before she was given the chance to ask her question, the Rancor Hunter opened fire as she watched.

The first shot hit its target instantaneously after the trigger was depressed, hitting what was, without a doubt, armored Transparasteel before melting right through it and carrying on to hit the first target, a male Zabark, in the head. Said target's head exploded on impact by what she had learned to be an invisible laser beam of impressive power, certainly more potent than any Blaster bare either vehicle-mounted weapons, heavy weapons with either a backpack-mounted power source, a tripod mount or something mounted on a starship. The other fourteen targets weren't even given time to rise from their seats as they found themselves being shot in rapid succession, one after another being shot and killed with a single shot to the head. By the time they had managed to drop to the ground, all but five of them were dead, not to mention the four guards in the room as they had taken to trying to hide under, what they believed to be, sufficient cover but were proven wrong when the next few shots hit right through their cover, killing them, before Michael turned to the last target.

Four shots later and he was done, as she saw when he stood up, threw the sniper around his shoulder, even as he got up and turned to her, gesturing towards their waiting airspeeder.

"Time to collect a few Bounties."

 **XXX**

Under my helmet, I smiled as I stepped through what remained of the Transparasteel window that _should_ have protected the idiots from anything short of direct Heavy Blaster cannon fire. Honestly, I found that funny as I glanced around to see my handy work.

Heads had been popped as water molecules were agitated by the beams of laser light, causing everything to be splattered in blood and brain matter of a few different colours before I turned at the sound of a few shards being crushed under foot. I glanced over my shoulder to see Avun stepping into the room, I could hear her thoughts as she considered the damage done by my rifle, a nice TX-SL12 Sharpshooter Laser rifle, and I knew that she now wished to have one of her own. Rolling my eyes at that, I had already made sure to use a mixture of Electrokinesis and Telemechanic Operation to shut down any kind of alarm along with locking the doors shut, something that would keep this as a private matter for the time being. Hearing someone groaning, I smiled as I stepped around the large conference table before coming to the main person of interest.

"Hello, Mr Bo Prorn, I trust that you are quite well this fine day?" I remarked sarcastically as I heard him screaming in pain as he tried to crawl away from me on non-existent limbs, each limb having been burned off with concentrated Laser fire, something that I had long since practiced how to do in order to be able to not kill targets on instinct since, apparently, it was easier for me to kill than it was to cripple.

Go figure.

"Please... Help me... Just... Just name your price..." I heard the Quarren mutter as I looked at the squid-shaped head of the creature and couldn't help the smirk that only grew on my lips as I glanced over to Avun, who was standing to one side of the room, her Carbine in hand while she glanced around. I already knew that she was watching me out of the corner of her eye, but I didn't truly care since, if I continued, I was sure that my abilities would become public knowledge, at least within the Galactic Underworld, sooner or later. Reaching into my belt as I knelt down next to the cripple, I drew out a Hypodermic Gun filled with shots of nano-machine enhanced Bacta, the stuff had been programmed to heal the target before the machines self-destructed to leave no evidence in a target's body. I used them from time to time as a cover for when I didn't want to expose my abilities to heal in front of witnesses.

"Don't worry, the pain won't last long, just relax and don't attempt to fight me or my friend here. After all, we're your friends, really damned good friends. You trust us completely, so much so that if we ask you a question about any your secrets, stuff that you'd normally never tell even your own mother, you'd gladly tell us because we're such good friends. Isn't that right?" I asked as I laced my voice with a Hypnotic Suggestion and leaned on the idiot. _Hard_.

People could be resistant to the stuff, but I had long since found out that pain numbed their ability to focus and resist such techniques. The Quarren's expression changed from a grimace of pain to a bastard cross of a smile and a grimace as he nodded.

"Yeah... We've been good friends... For years..." He muttered out as I injected him with the Bacta, the Suggestion firmly planted in his mind as the medicine got to work. It wouldn't regrow his arms or anything, but it would heal him to the point that he was no longer in pain and could function reasonably well.

"Good. Now then, you mind answering a few questions for us?" I asked, already knowing the answer as I leaned the Prorn up against a table leg that still connected the thick platform of Durasteel to the ground. I smiled as he nodded.

"What do you wanna know, my friends?" He asked as I glanced over to Avun, who had long since given up trying to be surupticious about her glances my way and was now openly staring at me, her mind running a mile a minute.

"A few things. First of all, I want you to tell us the account numbers, access codes and any other relevant information to do with any and all Credit accounts you currently have access to, whether they belong to yourself or the Hidden Hand, along with what Bank they are in and the relevant security. Secondly, we want a list of any and all funds and assets in the forms of precious gems, artwork, valuable materials or anything else that you might have stocked up encase you lost access to your accounts or if they were not suitable methods of payment. Thirdly, we want to know where you kept any information of value, both the primary copy and any kind of backup copies, along with anyone that might have known about their locations. Forth, you mind telling me how many people knew about the business between that Information Broker and the Bounty Hunter you posted a Bounty on? That alright with you, my friend?" I asked after explaining what me and Avun had already concluded was our primary interests seeing as the Bounty on her head would be taken care of as a matter of course, especially since I knew which account was linked to it. Sure, I could have dealt with it without having to leave the ship, but that would have simply meant that the fucker would have needed to just post another Bounty. This way, it just meant that all the loose ends were tied and it wouldn't come back to bit the pair of us in the ass further down the line.

"Of course, my friends. Currently, I have 23 accounts spread over three different banking groups with nineteen of them being handled by the Banking Clan. The Account codes for them are Four-Seven-Six-Three-" I smiled as the delusional Quarren kept on talking, spilling his secrets to us as I felt the astonishment, surprise, interest and wariness radiating from Avun even as she came closer to the pair of us. I knew I had little to worry about from her, the commands that I had put into her were still in effect so I knew that I wouldn't have to worry about any surprise Blaster Bolts to the back of the head.

Even with the brilliant armor I had, I still felt something from the impacts, especially if they hit the head and were especially powerful.

 **XXX**

For moments after Michael had started to 'interrogate' the Quarren crime boss, Avun couldn't help but freeze in stunned amazement and surprise at what she saw. With just a few simple statements, the Rancor Hunter had Bo Prorn dancing to his tune as the Quarren answered each question as fully and completely as was possible, leaving nothing out and practically giving them the keys to his entire fortune, and then some.

However, while amazed at what she was witnessing, Avun couldn't help but feel a slight bit of dread building in her stomach as she considered what he had just done and then considered her own state, the main thing being her seeming inability to actively harm her temporary partner as she thought of what she had just learned. Michael apparently possessed the ability to directly influence another being into believing anything that he said, meaning that he could implant commands directly into other beings. Avun wasn't sure about the actual nature of the ability, nor the mechanics behind it, but the implications were enough to draw interest, curiosity and caution in equal measure as she continued to watch what was unfolding before her.

However, even as she watched, making a recording for future investigation, review and analysis, Avun also couldn't help but find the entire situation darkly amusing, mainly because this idiot was now being played like a puppet and, in the process of such, was going to get them both more Credits than they could have ever earned otherwise. Avun had already collected the heads of the other targets in the room, placing them in a duffle bag that was now over her shoulder before approaching the pair at the edge of the room.

"-And that's everything. Is there anything else you need, my friends?" The Quarren asked with what could only be described as a 'happy-go-luck' tone of voice. Avun felt her eyes roll in her sockets as Michael shook his head to his conversational partner.

"No, thank you, you've been a great help." Michael remarked with a vicious tone as he looked at her, drawing her eye as his off-hand grasped the front of his hat before he jerked his head towards the Quarren. Avun instantly knew what he was implying and didn't hesitate in what happened next, merely lifting her Carbine and pulling the trigger twice before the limb-less body of the Quarren dropped to the ground, twin holes burned into his forehead as Michael nodded and drew a knife, kneeling down to the corpse as he started the process of removing the target's head.

The Bounty poster was oddly specific in that regard.

Now, after ten minutes of the 'interrogation' the room was suddenly dosed with silence.

After half a minute, with nothing but the sound of the knife moving through flesh and bones, Avun finally broke the silence.

"... What was that? How did you get him to become so... Compliant so easily?" She asked, doing her best to sound casual, but she had a very real interest in what he might say next, getting a snort from the, supposedly, Human.

"Wondering if I've used that trick on you?" He fired back as the female Chiss remained still, not wanting to say anything since, no matter what she said, it would have revealed her interest and the urgency with which she wanted the answer.

"..." Her silence was met with another snort of amusement from the other Hunter as he kept cutting through the Quarren's neck.

"To answer the questions currently going around in your head, the name of the ability I have is called Psionics among my people; the power of the mind. It's a trait that, while not exactly common, is not entirely rare either, and allows the user of the ability any number of talents to draw upon. The talent that I used on him was called Hypnotic Suggestion, a trick that lets me influence another through vocal ques into doing what I want, whether that being answering a few questions or simply not putting up a fight, to implanting compulsions for them to follow, varying from simple things to things that could completely shift a person's personality. And yes, before you ask, I did use this ability on you while you were recovering from your near-death experience following the Airpseeder chase through the city." Listening to the full extent of the 'talent', as Michael had called it, Avun couldn't help her eyes widening as her mind ran through light-years of implications, possible uses and the power that his people must wield if what Drake said was true.

Then her brain stalled as she heard his last remark, reviewing it multiple times in her brain to make sure she heard him correctly, before she turned to regard him as he finally finished dropping the Quarren's head in a small sack that was then tied around his waist.

"... What did you do to me...?" Avun asked, her mental discipline helping to cover the trepidation in her tone as she feared what he might have done, images of being enslaved, her mind and body being twisted until she was a willing slave to him, flashed through her mind. With every second that passed, such images only grew worse, before they were cut off by another snort of amusement from the Rancor Hunter.

"Nothing much, just some stuff to make sure you didn't attack me once you woke up, stuff to make sure you didn't try to steal or damage my belongings, and a few other things, but all of them were time sensitive compulsions, so they will erase themselves from your mind within a certain time frame." He remarked as he started moving passed her frozen form.

"... And how do I know that you are telling the truth?" She asked, a clear hint of anger and trepidation coming through as she mentally searched herself of any other sign of compulsions or implanted commands. She found none, but her own paranoia was driving her, making her think that this was simply a ploy to get her to drop her guard in order for him to spring something on her. Once more, she was surprised by the snort that came from his helmeted head, this time one of disbane.

"You don't. However, I like to think that I can hold myself to a moral standard, well, not really a case of morality given some of the things I've been involved in, but, I guess one could call it common decency. Slavery was a big problem back home, especially in coastal areas. I used to fight the Slavers that came around those areas from time to time, and I have seen the things they did to those they captured, as such, I have very little interest in becoming a slaver myself." Michael remarked, somehow, with just a few words, getting rid of all her trepidation and nervous energy as she heard real disgust and disbane in his voice at the mere _suggestion_ that he would do something similar. releasing a sigh of relief, Avun smiled slightly under her helmet as she nodded.

"Then, with that out of the way, I suppose it is time that we get back to your ship. I'd much rather continue this discussion somewhere else, somewhere that we will not have to worry about possible intrusions." Avun remarked, but was then confused as Michael suddenly tilted his head to one side before slamming his hand into his silver faceplate.

"You just _had_ to invoke Murphy, now didn't you?" He retorted in a mutter before looking up at her, grabbing her shoulder and throwing her to the ground behind the solid cover of the conference table.

And not a moment too soon, as the doorway to the conference room suddenly exploded inwardly and filling the room with expanding gases and heat. Smoke poured into and out of the room before it was followed by Blaster Bolts and battle cries as Humans, Twi'leks and Weequay gangsters all came rushing into the room. The Chiss didn't wait, and neither did her partner as they both drew their weapons of choice, only Avun found herself surprised when Michael drew that suitcase from earlier, though, she and everyone else _did_ make an important discovery soon afterwards.

It was most definitely _not_ a suitcase, as shown when a Weequay suddenly found himself missing a fair portion of his upper torso and his neck was annihilated to the point that it looked like his head was dangling from a thread.

 **XXX**


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I own nothing, this is purely for recreational purposes.

AN: Here is the next chapter of this story. Hope you enjoy!

 **XXX**

"If we die here, Avun, I'll be sure to haunt your ass for the rest of eternity!" I remarked as I ducked behind cover, one hand pushing her down and out of the firing line while the other grabbed a weapon from around my belt. Truthfully, I thought it was a rather useful weapon since it could be concealed rather easily and I could use it to walk into places that, under normal circumstances, would have seen me arrested for carrying it with me. As such, as I pulled out what appeared to be a briefcase, I pressed a concealed button and watched as the lower half slid back and locked into position, becoming a shoulder stock with ease, parts of the surface sliding away to reveal a trigger and shell ejector as I smiled even more as I gripped the weapon in one hand and fired.

The result was well worth it as I dived behind cover. The bolt hitting the primer of the shell inside the weapon before launching it towards the unfortunate bastard that was my target, a Weequad with a black and green headband and goggles over his eyes. I smiled as I caught sight of the aftermath of it, the man having not worn armor, giving him no protection from the storm of buckshot that hit him, shredding him and ripping through him as I regarded it for a moment before pumping the TX-A1 Concealed Shotgun, loading the next round of buckshot into the chamber before peeking out of cover and firing once more, this time killing two of them as I quickly grabbed my Big Bore Revolver and fired all four rounds into the growing crowd of thugs, killing several as the close proximity between them did the rest of the work for me.

"Call the Airspeeder! I'll cover you!" I shouted over to Avun through the din of combat as I holstered my, now empty, BigBore Revolver and then grasped my shotgun in both hands, pumping it as I clicked a switch that changed the ammo to the MD ammo that I had loaded into the weapon, miniature Plasma warheads. Pulling the trigger, I was immediately rewarded with a rather large hole being burned into the wall where the door once was as six men hiding by the doorway found themselves reduced to stray atoms while those that were further away suffered from third degree burns over most of their bodies. Honestly, I couldn't help the grimace at the screams of pain from what looked like hunks of charred meat, absolutely nothing that resembled the races that they once were.

"The Speeder will be here in the next 45 seconds." Avun reported as she turned to me while upholstering her Carbine and firing a few blind shots. I say blind because she didn't bother looking out of cover as she fired, but the trio of shots still managed to claim the lives of two idiots that had come charging into the room, a Human and a pink-ish Twi'lek. I nodded to her as I regarded the newest corpses on the ground before getting back to firing my buckshot at anything that moved.

Seriously?! What the hell were they _expecting_ to happen, coming into a room like that?!

I paid it no mind as I grabbed a Laser Pistol and snapped a few shots off as I pumped the shotgun once more, after jamming it into the floor to have enough leverage to do so, loading another Plasma shot into the weapon. Popping back up, another Plasma shell impacted the far wall, punching another hole through the sound-proofed, 'Reinforced' wall along with through a bit of the wall on the opposite side of the corridor outside the meeting room. I paid it little mind as I switched back to buckshot and pumped another three rounds into the hole, blasting a few idiots with Tungsten Buckshot to the face, honestly, they ended up looking like bloody Swiss cheese by the time the second shot impacted, the third one was just to make sure they were really dead.

"The Airspeeder is here! Get in!" I heard Avun shout to me, her voice remaining remarkably calm even through the din of combat as she continued to fire her Carbine, this time with one hand as she had dumped the duffle bag in the seat beside her as I nodded absently to her.

"Cover me!" I shouted back as she started firing more rapidly as I took note of their suppressed positions before making a run for the window, jumping as I neared it before spinning in mid-air. Pumping my shotgun twice, I smiled as two more Plasma shells launched, exploding inside the room and vaporizing any fool unlucky enough to be caught in them. I had already checked to see how far any more reinforcements were inside the building, but they were a few moments away, cameras weren't present in that room and what ones that were present nearby had already been disabled by my earlier work. In short, besides the now-dead witnesses, no one had really seen us.

As such, I smiled as I landed in the back seat of the Airspeeder and smirked victoriously as I felt the vehicle accelerate under me.

"Don't relax too quickly, Drake. Two vehicles are coming up fast behind us, both are carrying thugs with the markings of the Hidden Hand." I heard from in front as I rolled my eyes at that, peeking up to check before I saw the cars in question, rolling my eyes once more as I wondered if these idiots had even thought that it might be time to cut their losses and call it a day. Sighing, I decided that these thugs probably hadn't been hired for the number of brain cells they had between their ears, hence why I decided that it was best not to waste any more ammo on them when there were far similar ways of killing them.

Holstering my shotgun, I attached it back to my waist before reaching over one shoulder and grabbing my Laser rifle. Checking it, I found it still had a good amount of energy left in the upgraded E-clip as I extended the bipod and looked down the scope, slowly breathing in and out as I ran the math through my head before lining up the first shot. Squeezing the trigger, I gave a half-smirk at the result as the lance of laser light leaped out of the barrel of the gun and impacted the enemy Airspeeder in the primary Repulsorlift array. I had to admit, even though it was morbid, it was highly amusing seeing the cartoon-like expressions on their faces before they plummeted to their deaths, the other Airspeeder soon joining them as I leaned back.

"Both targets down. I'd suggest we get the hell out of here since I don't want to be here when the Coppers show." I remarked with a glance over my shoulder as I saw her nod at the steering wheel.

"Agreed. I know a place we can dump this Speeder before we head back to your ship." She stated as I nodded.

"Sounds like a plan to me."

 **XXX**

"Damn... I knew we were going to be making a shit load of money... But just... Damn..." Avun heard her temporary partner mutter as she allowed herself a slight smile at his remark. It was true, after all, they both knew that they had made a lot of money, but there was a rather big difference between intellectually knowing such a thing, and having tangible proof of it. Said proof being the Credits that they had already gained by transmitting DNA codes to the respective criminal networks of the Hutts and the Black Suns. For some of the lesser bounties, that was more than enough to get the reward for them, the higher level ones still required the proof to be delivered in person, but that was not a problem, especially after the two of them had already drained the accounts of Bo Prorn for all they were worth as well as working to map out a complete list of hidden cashes that he had kept for personal use.

"Agreed." Avun remarked with a nod as she looked over her own accounts, having already checked them multiple times to ensure that the money was both valid and, actually, real. She had learned that, at least, Michael had a sense of decency to him, but she still didn't completely trust him, not with the ability that he had told her of, something that was apparently an uncommon, but hardly rare, ability from where he came from.

Wherever that was.

Still, regardless of how she thought of the ability, she still faced a few problems of her own... Problems that Michael could solve rather easily, but her own paranoia was making her second guess herself, not to mention her unease with being deeper in his debt considering that he had already done so much for her.

"What's troubling you, Avun?" He asked as she bolted upright at the question, a look of concern on Michael's face as he looked at her from across the table.

"Wha...? How did you-?" She began, surprised at what he had just asked when she was sure that she hadn't let anything off. He offered a gentle smile and a snort of amusement.

"Another facet of Psionics; Empathy. It's a handy trick, but most Psionics, with a bit of practice, can pretty much leave it on to run subconsciously. I could feel your unease and nervousness like a siren's call. So, again, what's troubling you, Avun?" He explained, showing yet another ability that made her want to curse as Michael seemed to have yet another ability that made it virtually impossible to lie to him, since even professional liars had emotional tells when they lied, even if they masked them perfectly, physically at least. Avun looked at him for a long moment as solid red met brown and silver before she sighed, bringing her hand up to massage the bridge of her nose.

"... I was wondering... If you'd be willing for me to stay on your ship... At least for the time being. The Bounty on my head has been deactivated, but I'm sure that a few of the other Hunter's might still try and catch me even then, probably thinking that I might be a nice payoff once the Bounty comes back. Not only that, but I'm hesitant to try and buy a new ship here, especially since I might attract the attention of the remains of the Hidden Hand to try and kill me again." Avun remarked as Michael reached un and scratched his chin, a thoughtful expression on his face before he turned back to her, his expression set as she thought that he might tell her to kirff off. Avun opened her moth to argue, but Michael beat her to it.

"Ground rules. You won't touch my stuff, nor will you take, steal or interact with anything that I tell you is off limits. Try it and either I or the Droids on this ship will kill you. Try to steal my ship and you'll suffer the same. Aside from that, just clean up after yourself and don't go bringing any uninvited guests around here and we should be fine." He remarked simply as Avun nodded, her mouth snapping shut as she glanced over to the after mentioned 'stuff'.

Over on one side of the Cargo bay, she saw some of Michael's Droids working away on some kind of workshop, the bulky, skeleton-like machines doing something as they turned out pieces of armor plating, random parts and what looked like oversized projectiles for some kind of slugthrower, and a massive one at that. Another group seemed to be moving around, welding plates of metal together as they worked to make what could only be called an enclosure for their working area even as the rest of the Droids were moving crates around.

Avun dearly wanted to know what they were doing, her only understanding being that they were building something related to the technology of Michael's homeworld, which their designs had come from, but that was the extent of it. Still, she dearly wished to learn more about them, if only to figure out just how advanced the technology of Michael's homeworld really was.

"... I can live with those ground rules." The Chiss remarked with a nod as he smiled to her.

"Then welcome aboard."

 **XXX**

"What the hell is this?" I muttered as I finished looking through a few things on the Holonet before coming across one item that I found of particular interest. It was a request and a contract for assistance from the Kaleesh, that alone drew my attention as I looked closer and couldn't help but feel my eyebrows rise higher and higher into my forehead, almost feeling like they were about to disappear into my hairline, before I reached the end of the contract with a half-smirk and a glint of anticipation and excitement in my eyes.

"Well, This was definitely not included in any of the background I can remember..." I muttered as I glanced over the contents of the message once more. It seemed that the Kaleesh, after trying for so many years to get aid from the Republic, had finally thrown their hands up and given up on _that_ particular exercise in futility. Now, they were sending out contracts for aid from Mercenaries and Bounty Hunters that would be willing to aid them, though, I could see many turning such a thing down, if only due to the fact that their payment was in the form of loot upon each victory. Leaning back in my chair, I honestly didn't see anything wrong with that, especially since I could get a lot of good stuff from such a thing, especially if I was only looking for raw materials.

"Looking for another job, Michael?" I was brought out of my thoughts as I heard the voice of my ship mate and turned in my chair to see Avun standing in the doorway to the bridge of the _Dakka Hunter_. I felt my lips tug upwards as I saw her, seven months had passed since we had met and, since then, she had remained with me rather than choosing to leave and acquire a ship of her own. It was good to have the company, especially since we often had some rather good conversations about any number of things whenever we had the spare time to devote to such things. Last time we had a conversation, we were discussing the merits of ship designs, looking at historic designs of ships used throughout Galactic history. Honestly, she had been rather amused by it, especially when I called every ship builder in the Galaxy a bunch of brain dead idiots with their heads firmly planted up their asses and who wouldn't know armor plating from an transparent target, as I had taken to calling windows on starships.

Currently, she was wearing her usual attire, which was formed from a pair of black, skin-tight trousers, a white vest and a thinly armored jacket with long sleeves that she left open, covering her arms, but not coming all the way down her midriff. At her side, I saw her holsters for her extensively modified WESTER-35 Blasters, having been repeatedly modified and upgraded through a combination of both our efforts, I had even gone so far as integrate a few materials made using my nano-fabricator for a better cooling system, more potent Xciter as well as reducing the size of most of the internal components to make more room for the Tibanna to power the weapon.

I gave her a smile at that as I stood up from the chair, having taken to wearing a simple pair of black trousers and a grey T-shirt, since I was never one for wearing anything more fancy than what was needed.

"Found something interesting, not sure about whether it could be called a job or not, but I figured you might want a look before we decide one way or another." I remarked as she raised an eyebrow of her own, keeping her usual, neutral expression as I gestured towards the still active console.

"Have a look for yourself and tell me what you think. I'll be in the cargo bay either way, if you need me." I remarked as she nodded in turn before I left the room, the door closing behind me as I passed Avun as she moved out of the doorway. Not even glancing back, I quickly walked out of the room and then down into the cargo bay of my ship, which had changed rather significantly over the last few months.

Most of the open space was now gone, having been replaced by a series of enclosed huts that served as a mixture of storage and workshops, more the former than the latter, but it still worked well enough as I walked up to the first hut and approached the door before applying a bit of telekinesis and applying a combination to a lock on the inside of the door. It opened a moment later as I looked inside of the room, suddenly hit by a wave of sound, mostly sounds of work being carried out as I looked into the chamber.

It was small, but it still worked well as I saw machines at work, a group of twelve A-63 All-Purpose Robots were working away, directed by the spider/human hybrid machine known as an A-64 All-Purpose Master. Working together, I knew they were working to build a number of things, mostly weapons and ammunition, but also armor and medical equipment, things that I could use if needed, but the main thing I was looking for was something else entirely.

"Report." I commanded sharply as the Master turned to me, turning at the waist to face me.

"Master. Current estimates put the completion of the next five batches to be complete within the next three weeks. Current stocks of raw materials are at acceptable levels and have remained as such since you completed your last retrieval." I nodded at that, the report lacked details, but I knew what it was talking about and that was all that mattered.

"What about Combat Droid production and my Power Armor?" I asked, considering the potential job that I had lined up, I figured that being loaded for bear was probably the best option, especially since the contract mentioned to land on Kalee before being assigned to a particular battlefield from there. In short, having more potent weapons and armor would only make things easier for me in both the short and long terms. The Master Droid took a moment, seemingly to think, but was truly waiting to see if I was going to give any further instructions, a moment later, it spoke in its mechanical growl.

"Total completed number of combat capable automatons number as follows: 36 A-63 All-Purpose Robots; Six A-64 All Purpose Masters; Eight M-1400 Tigers and two AA-60 Hunter-Destroyers. Enough weapons have also been produced to sufficiently arm combat machines that have been produced, along with ammunition and energy cells to allow for their continued operation." The Master stated simply, getting a nod from me as the machine continued.

"As for your armor, it has been completed, Master. It is being stored in chamber six." I nodded once more at that, a smile tugging at my lips as I turned away from the machine, allowing it to return to its own work as it recognized the dismissal before I moved, heading for a side door that lead to some of the other sheds of M.D. sheet metal before turning off, slipping down a corridor before turning and walking through another door that lead me into another, rather small room that only had a single, other door that lead back to the wider cargo bay. Inside the chamber, I saw a few dozen crates, each one filled with medical supplies of one type or another, weapons, spare parts and anything else I had thought might have been of use. To another side of the room, there was a rack of robots, each one lying on sheets of metal as to allow them to take up as little space as possible.

However, as I moved through the room, I smiled as I saw the main point of interest in the centre of the room, at least for me, anyway.

In the middle of the room was a single, massive, suit of armor. Black and grey in colour with a single visor-like feature on the helmet, blunt horns jutted out from each shoulder as a large cannon turret extended from the left shoulder, three barrels were visible at the end of the bar of metal, arranged in a triangular fashion. Looking around it, I also noted the set of wings mounted on it, folded flush with its back and retracted slightly so that they only came down to the mid-thighs of the armor, rather than the ankles of the three metre tall suit of armor.

Walking up to the armor, I smiled as I looked it over, circling the armor and looking for any kind of imperfection or fault in the assembly or manufacture of the impressive suit. I found known, even with the aid of my abilities, something that I was rather happy for as I worked to open it up and watched as the layers of M.D.C armor plating folded away, leaving me able to enter it before I watched on with great interest. The metal folded up around me, enclosing me into it as I waited a moment in darkness before the machine powered on. Seconds later, I was assaulted with light, information streaming through the armor even as my powers allowed me to connect more completely with the suit than any neural interface would have allowed.

Glancing around, I smirked as I looked at my hand, feeling the vast physical power I now held as I clenched my fist, watching as a pair of vibro-blades shot out of the wrist, measuring almost eighty centimetres long. A thought, and I felt the turret on my shoulder spinning to life as targeting information swam into my mind.

"Looks like it's ready..." I muttered to myself in excitement.

Honestly, at this point, I already knew that the technologies of Rifts Earth had a major advantage over Star Wars tech in terms of anything to do with military applications, which covered a wide range of things from material science to medical innovation, but now I had rather concrete proof of it as I mentally reviewed the features of my highly customised Hell Angel, a flight-capable variant of the venerated Glitter Boy Power Armor. Now, what made this even better, was the fact that after I had included a few things from the universe I currently found myself in, I had been able to up-gun the armor massively.

New power systems allowed for more potent weaponry and a longer endurance, mostly in that the armor could remain powered for a century rather than a few decades, thank to a bit of creative thinking. Not only that, but Inertia Compensation, Repulsorlift technology and Ion Engines all had dramatic impacts on the armor itself after I had incorporated them into the armor. Inertia Compensation meant that I could fly however I wished and never fear blacking out, not only that, but it also allowed me to cancel the recoil of the famous Boom gun, even allowing me to go so far as mounting a Dual Coaxial Boom gun, with a secondary barrel that fired a potent Particle Beam, mounted on it. Repulsorlift technologies meant that, with the normal, yet highly miniaturized, flight system I could out fly just about anything within an atmosphere, especially since normal Star fighters were ill-suited for planetary dogfights. However, with Repulsorlifts and Ion Engines, I had gained the ability to fly from orbit, down to a planet and back up once more. Sure, it lacked the Laser-resistant and reflective armor of a normal Glitter Boy, but I figured it was unneeded since Blaster weapons were Plasma based, and I had seen few 'laser' weapons around here worthy of the name, but that still didn't detract from the advantage of having my own power armor.

It was an advantage I planned to make great use of in the future... Especially given the plans I already had in motion...

 **XXX**

Walking out of the bridge, Avun hummed in thought as she cupped her chin, her body moving on autopilot as she moved towards the spare quarters upon the _Dakka Hunter_ , the ship that she had been allowed to remain upon by her, for lack of a better term, partner. As stepped into her quarters, Avun took a seat on her bed, considering that simply fact as she recalled the last several months and the many things that had happened, along with what she had discovered about her host.

For one thing, she had long since learned that, despite his Human-like appearance, Michael was anything _but_ Human. He was simply too fast, too strong, too durable and seemed to heal just too quickly to be considered Human. Such things had been confirmed when she had had a chance to covertly scan him with a medical scanner, revealing just how different he really was to a normal Human. His bone structure was different, more solid but honeycombed, he lacked a heart, making up for it with capillary muscles lining his veins while multiple organs seemed to work like hybrids of multiple organs normally found in Humans. Along with that, she found that his muscles were three times denser than a Human's, along with the fact that his nerves were made from some kind of organic optical fibre, making his reaction times lightning fast. Under his skin, she had seen multiple layers of scales forming a complex mesh of sub-dermal armor while claws were hidden in the tips of his fingers, all of which seemed to have the ability to produce a range of chemicals, from toxins to potent acids. Along with that, he had a pair of fangs hidden within his mouth that could inject a lethal cocktail of venoms that she had her doubts about even being possible to cure, with jaw muscles strong enough to bit through durasteel.

Of course, if that wasn't enough, he also seemed to have dozen other features and differences that separated him from a normal Human, all of which came together to form the basis of a creature that seemed purpose built to never be capable of dying from anything short of complete destruction down to the very last cell. Within the confines of her room, Avun shuddered at the thought of what more beings like Michael were capable of, not to mention their military technologies, having already seen some examples of such, she knew that many of his weapons were entire orders of magnitudes better than anything available in the wider Galaxy.

If his race proved to be a race of expansionistic conquerors...

Shaking her head, Avun quickly discarded those thoughts, not wishing to even _consider_ that particular 'what if' situation, as it only filled her with dread. Instead, she decided to focus on the one that had long since become something of a trusted friend, seven months of fighting back-to-back having seen to that, and the contract he had shown her.

Honestly speaking, the contract itself wasn't a problem, in fact, the contract was actually rather well put together, as it offered the victorious a chance to gain not only payment in the form of loot, but also to gain various increases in reputation. Not only that, but also offered the chance of newly turned Mercenaries to try themselves in the closest thing to an actual war that was going on in the Galaxy. Avun leaned down, lying on her bed as she looked up at the ceiling, considering that fact, along with considering the future that Michael had planned out, and what few details he had shared with her.

It seemed that whatever had happened to Michael, it was something that was not easily fixed, there was apparently no easy or quick way for him to return home. As such, he had placed that as a highly long term goal, but he had other goals for the short term, one of which being to start some kind of mercenary group of his own since he believed that he could create such a group. He wanted to use what talents he had to leave a mark on the wider Galaxy, along with building himself a new life within the Galaxy at large, though, the Chiss still wondered how he had made his identification documents in the first place, though he never told her.

Truthfully, Avun was rather interested in what Michael called a 'PMC', or a 'Private Military Contractor'. It was apparently a more polite way of saying 'Mercenaries' from his home, and basically amounted to an army-for-hire, a concept that had never truly been seen in the known Galaxy. Sure, people had hired large groups of Mercenaries, but those were usually individual warriors that had been grouped together and knew nothing about one another besides each other's reputations. Michael wanted to make something new from scratch, recruiting and training them from nothing, building them into a formidable force using some of the same tactics that he had mentioned being used on his homeworld. Even though he was rather vague about most things, some things came through crystal clear, such as references to the brutal Spetsnaz, the venerated SAS, the lethal SEALs. All of which spoke of highly skilled soldiers that stood head and shoulders above anything she could compare them to.

With a force of a similar calibur, Avun had little doubt that Michael could conquer entire sectors.

Still, such thoughts, while they did put an amused smile on her face, caused her to come back to considering the man himself. Seven months was how long they had been together, working together, and in that time, Avun liked to think that they had, at least, become good friends. Good friends having been something that the Chiss had found in short supply ever since she had left Chiss space, mostly because of actions and events beyond her control, at least some of them. Finding a friend such as Michael was beyond amazing, even as she felt herself growing more attached to him as they worked together, even as the unknown being had augmented her equipment, helped her gain new equipment and even built her a few things to aid her in battle.

Slowly, she realized, Avun felt as though she was only being drawn closer and closer to him, partly because of her own curiosity with him, but also because she found him a genuinely interesting person with a sarcastic wit, sharp mind and impressive skills. Not only that, but he honestly cared about her, whether as a friend or as something more was unknown, but she was touched by such concern for her, something she had not experienced in a long time.

Still, she considered as she got up from the bed, she would have to keep an eye on such feelings and see how they develop, along with seeing Drake's own feelings on the matter, probably through some gentle probing before she considered stating anything so openly as most others did.

She was a Chiss after all, and Chiss didn't make rash actions, but only acted after looking at all sides of a puzzle and with sufficient research.

Avun grinned openly at that thought.

This was one piece of research she was going to _deeply_ enjoy...

 **XXX**

" _-Continue upon final approach, Dakka Hunter, and make for Landing pad seven. A beacon has been activated. May you find glory in battle one day._ " I heard from the Kaleesh flight director before the signal died, I hadn't said anything beyond telling him what I was doing here, that seemed to have been enough as I made a note of looking around, to see what I might be able to find once things got started. Still, that didn't mean I was planning to go out into the battlefield without being armed for bear, especially since I knew that shit was, probably at some point, going to hit the fan.

"The beacon is active, signal has been acquired." I heard from beside me, glancing that way to see Avun wearing full armor, having been upgraded with thicker armor, a basic exo-skeleton and a jetpack, though it didn't really use any tech from RIfts Earth, just the idea of some things that could have been made at any point in SW, if someone had the inclination to do so, using repurposed Droid parts. I had even gone a step further and combined it with a Repulsor system, allowing it to function in any environment, though, it worked especially well in a standard atmosphere.

"Got it, I'll activate the autopilot, should get us down to the ground inside of a few minutes. Want to run a few final tests over your gear before we meet the locals?" I asked jokingly, mostly because I thought it was true, but also because I had grown to like Avun. I liked to joke, but one thing I had found was that if she liked a joke, then it only made her look more beautiful than her normally stoic expression, which was still a hell of a lot better looking than some supermodels, in my humble opinion.

"A good course of action, especially when we do not know when we might be forced to fight next." She remarked as she got up and left the cockpit of the ship. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her moving as I caught sight of her in the reflection of the transparasteel window in front of me, my eyes drawn rather significantly to her ass as she seemed to have an unconscious sway in her hips that drew the eye. Honestly, I just wished she did that more often, especially given how bloody brilliant her body was.

Shaking my head at such thoughts, and making a note of getting a cold shower at the next opportunity, I stood and made my way for the cargo bay, where my armor was waiting for me with my Wrangler armor packed away into the storage space within it. Though, even then, I considered the use of such armor to be something of an added precaution, not really needed, but it was better to have and not need something, than to need it and not have it. Ever since I had started experimenting in Bio-manipulation, a Psinoic ability to manipulate my own body, I had started making small, and not so small, modifications to make me even more dangerous in a fight. Mostly, I just wanted the extra survivability.

Still, it _did_ have an effect on others, even if it was just them inching away at knowing an Apex Predator was walking by.

I honestly quite liked that little effect, if only because it gave me yet another edge in a negotiation.

Shaking my head once more, I slipped down into the cargo hold, looking around and noting that all of my combat capable robotic soldiers were standing at the ready while Avun was sitting on a crate nearby, messing around with one of her gauntlets, probably looking over her supply of micro-rockets, flamer fuel and Visible-spectrum laser charge. That last one caused my lips to twitch, especially when one considers the fact that such things were _massively_ energy inefficient, still, I said nothing as I had come to respect Avun enough not to blatantly make her second guess her equipment or criticize it before a job, mostly because I knew she had the skills to make it work for her.

Still, without a word, I walked over to my waiting armor, slipping into it before it folded up around me and engaged itself.

"All set?" I asked to Avun as she stood up from the crate, giving me a nod in turn before I turned to one of the Master Droids.

"Remain here unless I call for you, and even then, leave a squad on or around the ship in optimal position to defend it from anyone seeking either to enter it, or to sabotage, damage or destroy it. Lethal force shall be authorized." I commanded as it bowed it's head to me.

"It shall be as you command, Master." It replied as I turned back to Avun as she slipped her helmet on, sealing her armor shut with an environmental seal.

"Ready to go?"

"Do you even have to ask?"

 **XXX**

Stepping out of the _Dakka Hunter_ , I couldn't help looking around as I saw dozens of ships landing in a vague formation of landing 'pads' that were really little more than a few dozen different areas that had been marked out with paint and beacons. I glanced around as I stepped into the light of Iminec, the local star, the land around where my ship had landed was a long, flat valley floor filled with a light layer of dust and sand with trees growing at the edges of it. Just from a quick look, I could see dozens of warriors moving around, both Kaleesh and non-Kaleesh that had been hired from off world, honestly, it was rather easy to tell them apart, especially when the Kaleesh worn head wraps, skull masks covered in traditional paints and a few pieces of armor made from a Blaster-resistance, tanned leather-like substance. Not only that, but I also saw a dozen being wondering around, some hollering from stalls as they tried to persuade those that passed them to buy their products; A mix of used weapons, armor pieces and non-reusable equipment like Grenades, Mines and any other kind of explosive device one would care to name.

Suddenly, a tapping at my side caused me to look down to see Avun, who gestured ahead of me with her chin as I turned to see a number of approaching warriors, lead by one in particular who seemed to have a more complex series of drawings and carvings on his mask.

"Greetings, warriors of fortune. I am Thaax Rrazzassh, the overseer of this encampment, and, until you are given the chance to prove yourselves against the Huk on the fields of battle, your commander. I trust that neither of you shall have any problem with that?" He asked, I noted the apparent hate the man before me had, saying the word 'huk' like it was literal poison in his mouth. Truthfully, I couldn't really blame him for such a thought as I shook my head.

"No. No problems with that, though I will personally admit that I was never a fan of sitting on the sidelines with my thumb up my ass while there was work to be done." I remarked, getting a nod of approval from the Kaleesh, along with a snort of amusement from Avun, who knew my own nature as a partial, some would argue 'complete', workaholic.

"Understandable, though we can only work as fast as we are able. The frontline advances with every day that passes, and coordinating with them is difficult, it might have seemed easier just to have you go straight to the frontlines, but such would have offered you no chance to familiarize yourselves with our people, meaning you would have not been able to work as well with the other warriors as we would have liked." The Overseer noted as I nodded in understanding. When making an army, you needed to have a perfectly timed machine, not a hunk of metal with cogs that moved in whatever direction they felt like. However, the Kaleesh looked at the both of us for a moment before he spoke once more.

"Now then, would you be kind enough to tell me your professional names?" He inquired as I nodded.

"I'm called the Rancor Hunter." I stated, keeping my own dislike of the name from showing, an easy feat when your encased in so much metal, as I grabbed a thumb at Avun. "And this is the White Huntress."

I had to prevent myself from snorting in amusement at that, such a stupid name, based merely upon the primary colour of her armor. Completely superficial and rather dull.

"Thank you. Please, enjoy your time here until you are called upon." He stated with a nod before moving away. I nodded back to him as I considered that. That conversation had not been as I had expected, but, then again, I thought that the Kaleesh would want to send as many forces straight to the frontlines as possible, instead, they had been smart and wanted to integrate their new forces properly. I had no idea _how_ they planned to do that, but I would guess that they would want us to report at some point to them with a list of basic abilities and weapons. Shaking my head, I discarded those thoughts, it hardly mattered at the end of the day how they solved that problem, merely that it was solved. Turning, I looked towards Avun as she glanced around.

"Feel like taking a look around, since it looks like we might be stuck here for a while?" I asked as she nodded.

"Yes. I've been meaning to obtain a few more weapons as of late, preferably a few things with a bit more firepower than my Blasters and Carbine."

 **XXX**

AN: Hope you enjoyed that and continue to review this story. Until next time!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I own nothing. This is purely for recreational purposes.

 **XXX**

Ok, I had to admit that the markets of the 'Mercenary Town', as it had come to be called, were rather impressive in that they were filled with so much stuff. Dozens of different weapons stalls with armor and weapon smiths offering people rates to build custom weapons, even a few Mandalorians offering to sell alloyed Beskar armor to people, though it was definitely not in the style of normal Mandalorian armor, probably as an indicator that the people wearing it weren't Mandalorians themselves. A few were even selling vehicles, mostly a few Landspeeders, though I had spotted a few merchants selling Headhunters, mostly older models that had been retrofitted with newer systems like sensors and the like.

Still, I felt that some of the stuff that was being sold around here was of limited use, especially given the ground warfare that seemed to be dominating this conflict.

"Damnit... No luck..." I looked up from my musings as I heard that, seeing Avun emerging from yet another stall, seemingly unsatisfied with what she had found, not that I blamed her since I could see that most of the stuff this idiot was selling was little more than rusted junk with a, rare, few good weapons. Then again, I _had_ spoiled her when I had upgraded her Blasters with technical knowledge and materials that were well above some of the local tech. Sure, I'm sure that a custom-built weapon from the best weaponsmiths in the Galaxy could have beat them, but I doubted it would have been cheap. Still, I made a note of looking into the problem, especially since it might require me to make something from scratch.

"Still no luck?" I asked, already knowing the answer even as she shook her head, I was just making conversation.

"None. Frankly, I think we've come too late, most of the good weapons have already been taken, and what few weapons that _might_ be better than my own ones are Mandalorian, and most of _them_ are too heavy for my tastes." She remarked as I nodded.

"What about that heavy weapon you were looking for?" I asked as we started walking, causing her to follow after me even as she shook her head, pressing her hand into her visor in an attempt to massage the bridge of her nose. Even as we moved, I noticed the way the crowd parted around me, a quick scan of Telepathy told me why, mostly a mix of the reputation of both myself and Avun, but also because I was a guy wearing a three metre tall suit of armor that looked like it could, and it _could_ , tank hits from warships. It didn't really matter, but it was nice for them to give us some space, especially since it meant that I wouldn't have to step on any of the bloody midgets running around the place. Yes, I knew they're race had a proper name, I just didn't care to use it.

"Bah! Most of them are out of heavy weapon stock or the ones they do have are not even worth the materials they were made from!" She retorted, her tone showing her annoyance as I nodded at that. Chiss, from what I had learned, were a lot better than normal Humans at controlling their emotions through mental discipline, but they still had limits.

"... You do know my offer is still on the table, right?" I remarked as she nodded sharply at that, but said no more. I sighed at that, but didn't comment either, since I knew that doing so would have gotten me into more shit, but it had been something I had offered to a friend.

Basically, I had offered to build Avun a new weapon from scratch. She was tempted at the time, but refused on the simple fact that she didn't know how to use any of the technology I had created, not only that, but also because she disliked the weight that a lot of the weapons I knew how to make were. Even the lightest ones were not her style due to one reason or another, I didn't comment on it, but was more than happy to help modify her weapons since she refused anything else.

Shaking my head slightly, I said nothing as I kept walking, considering the six hours within this camp and the utter lack of anything interesting to find. Even with a few Psionic sweeps to see if I could find anything within a limited range, I had found precious little that had attracted my interest, and what little I had found was just a few random pieces of tech that went for an absolute steal. Weapons and armor were off the table, Bacta was something I had recently stocked up on and, aside from a few Droid parts to look over at a later date, I found little of interest within the entire encampment.

However, as I walked, I noted something, the busy streets around me suddenly going quiet as a shadow was cast over the 'town', glancing around and up as Avun did the same, we realized why as swarms of ships feel from the sky. Looking up, I saw dozens of retrofitted freighters, armed with weapons and looking like they had had their cargo holds expanded to serve the purpose of carrying more troops... Or more prisoners...

It didn't take more than a second for the shock of what was coming down upon us all to wear off as Mercs suddenly scrambled into action, Kaleesh moving in a storm of activity while merchants quickly grabbed as many weapons as they could and started handing them out. Said merchants, while greedy, knew what their options were and would have preferred losing a profit to being killed or, worse, becoming a slave. I glanced around at that, not saying anything before glancing down at Avun, who was looking at me in turn.

"I'll head them off at their landing zone, try and slow them down. You going to try helping some of these idiots?" I asked, getting a nod and a snort of amusement from her.

"Can I expect your Droids to help?"

"They're already on their way, I told a few of them to remain back at the ship, but they'll be here in a minute or less."

 **XXX**

People often didn't think of it, but flying was actually rather liberating, especially at high speeds.

Flying through the air, I took in what was ahead of me with calm indifference. the Huk had created their landing zone, landing multiple Action VI Freighters, YV-929 Armed Freighters, YV-929 Light Freighters, Vulture Droids and a few dozen other types of fighters that I didn't recognize as I soured through the air. Images flashed through my mind as I noted each of them, marking their locations while the starfighters seemed to hover protectively over the landing zone, probably to create the illusion of safety.

I smirked at that.

"Time to show them what real war is like..." I muttered to myself as I shifted, the power armor around me shifting with me as I suddenly found myself in a steep dive, wings folded in to create a smaller profile as I readied my weapon of choice, a QST-188 Particle Assault Cannon, the same as those used by Silver Wolf Glitter Boys, but modified in such a way that it had been miniaturized to look like an oversized Assault Rifle for my armor. It was also one of several weapons I had built to use with my armor, though, a few of them could be used in or out of this armor. Swooping down, I smiled as I readied it, along with my other weapons and waited for a moment as I drew closer.

Then I acted.

As I went parallel with the first fighter, I acted, my augmented biology allowing me to react faster than most races, the Huk being no different, I pulled the trigger to each weapon I had as my wings unfolded, my body feeling the G-forces, testing the Inertia Compensators to their limits and beyond, but unaffected by them due to the upgrades I had given this armor. As I pulled up, a number of things happened, results of the trigger pulling I was doing.

First of all, multiple Fighters suddenly found themselves exploding as a barrage of mini-missiles hit them before they had a chance to react, blasting them to pieces as the Thermal Detonator-like warheads did the rest of the work. Two Freighters found themselves reduced to scrap as Rail gun shells rained over them, Flechettes made from a lesser M.D.C. material rained down on them at over Mach five, durasteel offering no protection as those ships were ripped apart, internal explosions ripping the rest of them apart, while several other ships found their hulls ripped apart, crippling them until repairs could be effected while a Particle stream dug a trench through the remains of two other ships, butchering a dozen Huk in the process, as another Particle stream rained over what looked like an ad hoc command centre, one that suddenly found itself turned to dust.

All that happened in the space of a few seconds as I flipped around, swinging around and going for another pass, folding my wings away as I crashed into the ground, impacting into a thick crowd of Huk and smiling as I deployed a pair of Vibro-blades from my off-hand while sweeping another group with my Assault cannon. My Dual Boom guns fired, sonic booms hammering anyone that was within two hundred metres of me, bursting what amounted to ears on the insects as I cut down those that remained. Corpses fell to the ground for ten seconds as Vibro-blades cut, Particle streams burned and irradiated, and flechettes caused anything they hit to be reduced to so much multi-coloured paste that it wasn't even funny.

Still, once the Huk managed to work around their surprise and shock, they were quite to counter attack.

Blaster cannon bolts started to rain down as Starfighters went on attack runs, only to be intercepted by snap-shots from the Laser cannon I had mounted underneath the main barrel of my Assault cannon. Dozens of Huk ran at me, screaming their rage and hate at me as I smirked at them in turn, firing my Boom guns at them and enjoying it as they disappeared into so much paste. Those Huk with heavy weapons tried pinning me down as I hopped around, making extensive use of my Repulsorlift and jetpack to make myself as hard a target as possible. Still, even with that, I did still get hit, multiple times in fact, but they did little damage to my armor as, after two minutes of shooting through them, wrecking their shit and being a general pain in the ass, I pulled. I wanted to conserve ammo for later, not to mention the fact that I had, at the very least, made sure that _that_ Landing zone wasn't going to be too much of a problem.

At least for a while, anyway.

 **XXX**

Looking up from the bushes that he had thrown both himself and his comrade, Jedi Master Jmmaar looked up at the devastation before him, eyes wide at the destruction brought by a single being.

"By the Force..." He whispered to himself as he felt the deaths of those Yam'rii that had been sent to aid them in ending this conflict that the Kaleesh had started. Now, originally, he had had a few misgivings about the conflict, but knew that he had sworn, as a Jedi, to safeguard the Republic and it's member races from any threat, both internal and external. Intellectually, he knew that the Kaleesh had been hiring mercenaries, but having faced one that seemed to appear from nowhere, slaughter so many, before taking off on some kind of oversized jetpack was something he had _not_ been expecting, especially not the sheer devastation that said mercenary had wrought. If it hadn't been for the Force, he and his fellow Jedi Master would have died, but, looking around at the carnage, Jmmaar couldn't help but feel his resolve harden as he shook his friend awake.

He _would_ see this war end, and see that _thug_ imprisoned for what he had done here.

"D'oon, wake up! We must move! Now!" Jmmaar spoke as he rapidly tried to wake up his friend, giving him a gentle slap on the cheek to wake the Human up, causing him to snap awake from his unconscious state, caused by Jmmaar throwing him from the command tent with so little warning.

"'m up! I'm up!" D'oon cried back as he darted up, slowing down as he suddenly felt the reflection of death in the Force and looked around to see smoking corpses and the burning remains of starships, glass trails burned into the ground.

"What happened...? All I remember was you throwing me through a window after hearing the Force scream in warning. What happened, old friend?" The Human asked, getting a grim look from his comrade.

"A Mercenary the Kaleesh hired." Jmmaar replied, getting a nod from the other Master. No other explanation was needed after that point, after all, it was easy to see what had happened, especially with the remains of seven freighters, twelve starfighters and a few dozen Yam'rii lying around. It couldn't even be called a battle, more like a slaughter of epic proportions.

Still, pushing down their combined disgust and regret for the Mercenary and the dead, respectively, they went in search for other survivors. Quickly, with the aid of the Force, they found others, Yam'rii helping one another walk around, medics tending to horribly injured survivors, some missing limbs while others were suffering from burns that covered entire sections of their bodies, having burned away plates of chitin. Most of them were being brought into a quickly deployed tent and laid on stretchers as medics moved quickly to heal them. Stepping in, the two Jedi did their best to contain their emotions, reciting sections of the Jedi Code to keep themselves from allowing themselves to fall to their emotions.

Only the Dark side awaited them down that path...

"Who is in charge here?" D'oon commanded as he stepped into the tent, drawing a look from one of the nearby Medics, but nothing more.

"That... Would be me, Master Jedi...Commander Kitac... At your service." Came the clicking voice of one Yam'rii as he walked closer, both Jedi seeing that the being in question wasn't looking all too good. The Yam'rii in question had suffered badly, his left eye was covered in bandages soaked in Bacta while he was missing his left arm from the mid-bicep down. Not only that, but the Yam'rii's chitin was covered in the blood of his fellows, along with his own, something that only caused both Jedi to work harder to keep their calm as they both nodded towards him.

"How are the casualties, Commander?" Jmmaar asked first, the centipede-like Jedi speaking first as he heard the Yam'rii click his tongue in thought.

"Over 250 dead, almost double that in injured along with multiple ships either destroyed.. Or rendered unable to break the atmosphere of the planet... Thankfully, though, the other landing zones haven't suffered attacks quite like this... Merely a few... Probing attacks..." The Jedi both nodded at that.

"Then we must move quickly. If we can secure the Kaleesh capital and force them to surrender, then it will prevent any more bloodshed while the Senate works to prevent the Kaleesh from being a threat again." Kitac nodded at that.

"Yes... But first... We must reach their capital... Which is on the other side... Of this..." Reaching his remaining hand out, he presented a holo-prjector that sprang to life and presented an image of a massive collection of landed ships, a massive tent city filled with people. However, what brought the Jedis' attention was not the actually encampment, but it's surroundings, mainly the heavily fortified positions and dozens of mercenaries and Kaleesh that filled trenches, barricades and emplacements. Looking up, they both looked to the Yam'rii in question for an answer.

"We.. Cannot move around it... It blocks the quickest path to the... Kaleesh Capital... To go any other path would mere... cost more lives and drain us dry... we _must_ attack..." The Commander insisted as the two Jedi looked to one another, before sagging in despair, knowing that more lives would be lost this day.

"Very well... We shall prepare to move out when you are ready."

 **XXX**

Avun smiled as she watched Michael land at the defense line that had been set up in advance around Merc Town. All around him, dozens of others looked on in a mixture of interest, awe and caution as he walked through the parting crowd, calmly looking over the gun in his hand as he placed it on to a magnetic clamp on his thigh as he grabbed another weapon from around his waist. Said weapon had three barrels, looking very much like an oversized pistol in his Armor-clad hand.

"What's the situation?" He asked as he approached, checking over this weapon before holstering it once more, clearly ensuring that it was ready for a close range battle, something that everyone was expecting at this point. Avun moved over to him and started walking with him as he moved deeper into Merc Town.

"The defenses have been prepared, your attack bought time, but the Huk have landed in five other locations and are advancing on our location. Best guess is that they want to try and make a run at the Capital to try and force the Kaleesh to surrender, though, most of the Kaleesh seem to think that will never happen. Air support isn't possible, mostly because what Starfighters were here are busy keeping their Starfighters from making a run on us or for the Capital. Aside from some point defense, Anti-Air turrets and Concussion missile launchers, we don't have anything else to defend against an air assault." Avun explained, getting a nod from the Rancor Hunter.

"I'll provide support from the air along with deal with any concentrated formations of forces. How many Mandalorians are here? And how many of them have Jetpacks?" Michael asked after a moment of consideration.

"Just under a hundred or so, and all of them have jetpacks, along with a few dozen other Mercs that are flight capable in one way or another, myself included." Drake nodded at that.

"I'll talk with the Overseer, see if he can be convinced for something other than a protracted defense." Avun looked at him at that, curious as to what was going through the man's mind, and what he thought was a better option given that the Huk had them outnumbered, which meant that the coming fight, even with their superior position, was not going to be an easy one.

"What are you planning, Michael?" He glanced down at her at that moment.

"I'm thinking that if this becomes a head-to-head fight, we're going to lose. Badly. So, instead, we need to bleed them dry, those with jetpacks or repulsor-packs have the advantage in mobility to get in, kill a few dozen before pulling back, laying traps on the way out to bleed them further. Eventually, it should mean that, by the time they get here, we should have a significant advantage on them, after all, it is easier to beat a demoralized, heavily mauled force than it is one that is fresh off their transports, and looking for blood, eager for a fight." Michael remarked as Avun nodded in understanding. Yam'rii may have been cruel, sick bastards, but even they could get demoralized, and even if they didn't, they'd get angry, they would start making mistakes due to their own bloodlust and anger.

"A clever plan, but one that was risky." Avun noted, Michael, in response, shrugged his massive, armor-encased shoulders.

"Who dares, wins." He remarked simply before walking onwards, not really offering another word as she remembered the saying, the motto of the SAS of his homeworld.

He who dares, wins indeed.

 **XXX**

Shedon Jeffruf was many things; A Mandalorian, a weaponsmith, an armorsmith, a part-time drunk, a full-time warrior and an amateur musician, but one thing he was not, was a coward. As such, he could only grin as he looked over at the White Huntress as she and everyone else hid in the branches of trees, the dense undergrowth of the planet and in any shadow they could find. Honestly, if he had a chance, he fully planned to shake the hand of the _Ramikad_ (Dangerous Motherfucker) and offer them as much _Ne'tra gal_ (Black Ale) as they could manage.

Truthfully, he had been bored until these idiots had attacked, him and the rest of the Mandalorians with him. When they thought they were going to be stuck on the defensive, they felt annoyed since it meant more waiting when they had an enemy to fight, a battle just waiting to happen. Yet, instead, virtually every Mandalorian had nearly jumped for joy when the orders had come down from high above, instead of being tied up in defense, someone had the bright idea of going on the attack to bleed these bugs dry before they even had the chance to reach Merc Town. Shedon had a good idea who it was, given that said _Beroya_ (Bounty Hunter) had gone off on his own to blast one such landing zone apart just for the hell of it.

Still, the Mandalorian knew better than to distract someone on the eve of a battle, such things would have l only made them an easier target, something that Shedon knew from personal experience during the Mandalorian Civil War.

"Delta team, hold position. Targets are almost in the kill zone, check your gear as quickly and quietly as possible, we've got three minutes, Reaper Actual out." A voice suddenly came over the comm., one that they all had recognized as belonging to the now famous, and infamous, Rancor Hunter. Looking to the White Huntress, who was already doing as instructed, Shedon followed her example as others followed while those that didn't remained alert of anything approaching. True to the Rancor Hunter's words, a column of bugs soon started marching passed them, they watched from the side as the bugs moved along a dirt path through the forests, heading for Merc Town as they all held still.

Subconsciously, the Mandalorian felt his fingers tighten their hold around his weapon as he surveyed the dead bug's walking before him, waiting for the order to attack. However, as he watched them, already picking out targets to fire on first, he spotted two figures that clearly didn't belong, both clad in brown robes that covered them in baggy fabric. However, it wasn't until he saw the glint of silver and gold that he knew what these two beings were, but even before that, he had a sneaking suspicion as to what they were.

"Delta lead, this is Delta Two. I've got eyes on two _Jetii_ (Jedi), both are armed and are advancing near the front of the Huk forces. Over." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the White Huntress pause in her work before she started moving once more.

"Understood, Delta Two. I've contacted Reaper Actual, he'll be on stand-by to assist if things go bad, but he has put some of his Droids on overwatch for us. Be advised, they _will_ be taking shots from random angles, so try and watch yourselves. Over." The White Huntress stated as she went back to work, the Mandalorians looking about themselves, grinning as they knew that this was the chance to get a bit of payback against the Jedi for what they did during the Mandalorian Civil War.

"Understood, Delta lead, Delta two. Out." With that, he merely had to remain there and wait as he readied himself. Around him, many Mandalorians started planting mirrors beside them for a reflected shot to hit the Jedi, something that most of them wouldn't see coming since the Jedi only felt someone that was trying to kill them, they, on the other hand, were merely shooting a mirror that _might_ cause their shots to be reflected and hit the Jedi.

Seconds ticked by as the enemy forces drew closer, everyone keeping their calm as the White Huntress hovered her finger over the button to activate the mines, another indirect method of killing the Jedi since they would die from stepping on a mine, not by someone pulling a trigger. Still, grips tightened around weapons, those with heavy weapons checked and rechecked shot counters and power packs even as they held their scopes steady over the horde of Huk. The newer Mercs held themselves steady, having been advised to attack the horde rather than the Jedi as to not give themselves away.

"... Now." The word came in a whisper, but that whisper may as well have been the howling shout of a banshee as it echoed through them all. It didn't even take a moment as Blaster fire rained down upon the advancing forces. Huk died by the Cargo load as grenades were thrown, rockets launched and blasters sung, throughout which, dozens had taken to the air, firing and trusting to their skills and the armor to protect them from the return fire as the Huk returned fire. Still, the chaos served its purpose well, the Huk were falling over themselves as mines exploded under their feet, making movement nearly impossible, but some still managed. Some suffered of their forces suffered damage, scuffed paint and dented armor from the specially made weapons of the Huk, Blasters that they could use with their mantis-like arms. The Mandalorians among them suffered little, their Mandalorian Iron, whether pure or alloyed, armor held well, preventing them from taking damage that would have killed a lesser man, but the other mercs were less fortunate.

Potent Blaster fire hit them and caved in armor, ruptured fuel tanks and caused them to fall to the ground, unmoving, while their comrades fought onwards, towards victory. Still, even with the threat of death, they gave a good account of themselves, killing dozens of Huk before pulling back, their jobs done even as fire rained down from snipers outside of their visual range. Support came as missiles and invisible lances started hitting the Huk, their proximity preventing them from escaping the blasts...

But failing to kill their main targets.

The Jedi had survived the main bombardment and fire, their robes in tatters, burns and bleeding wounds covering them, but still alive and able to fight as they wielded their Lightsabers as they were fired upon from above. The two Jedi moved quickly, dodging and jumping out of the way while using their blades to reflect incoming attacks, others were turned aside as the Jedi moved, trying to get into the thick of things as the Mercenaries avoided them like the plague. Still, even as that happened, the White Huntress entered the fray without pause.

Out of the corner of his eye, Shedon saw her engage in the fight, and he honestly couldn't help but feel impressed by what he saw. Each shot from her weapons was a killing blow, burning straight through the hides of the bugs with ease while she didn't waste more than a single shot on those that died before turning in the air and launching a stream of missiles at the Jedi while spreading her fire, doing her best to make them move as much as possible to deflect her shots. She could have kept it up for a long time, but it seemed she didn't need to as one of the Jedi was forced to reflect a shot from a different angle, one of her own shots got through. It impacted the Centipede-like creature, hitting the front left manipulator arm and burning straight through it, blasting it off the creature as his comrade could only look on in horror as he tried to cover his friend.

To do this, he reacted by throwing his Lightsaber, a bad move in this kind of fight as he grabbed his comrade and tried to drag the wounded being away, but it hardly mattered. The Lightsaber continued to fly through the air, heading straight for the White Huntress, who saw it coming and jinked to the left, but wasn't fast enough, the Plasma blade of the Lightsaber cutting into her armor as she twisted, where it had been aiming for her torso, it hit her in the arm, cutting through her armor and removing her left arm from the shoulder down. The blade also cut into her backpack as she fell to the ground, the fuel having been ignited and she was thrown to the ground at that.

Seeing her go down, the Huk hissed as they felt victory might have been theirs, not that they realized that this wasn't a real battle, but they rushed forwards as Shedon slipped from his position, moving towards his group leader as he continued to fire. Behind him, his _Vod_ (Comrades or Brothers and Sisters) advanced to cover him as he quickly grabbed her even as he heard her hiss in pain, something that caused him to look at her in surprise and cause his respect for her to grow just that little bit more. Still, he needed to work quickly as he ripped a Bacta-coated patch from his belt and slapped it to the stump that remained of her shoulder even as he accessed his comms.

"This is Delta Two to Reaper actual. Delta lead is down after engaging and injuring one of the Jedi, we require assistance and support to cover our retreat. Over." He spoke calmly and quickly as he hoisted her over his shoulders before leaping back as more Huk advanced.

"Acknowledged. Support is enroute, give me ten seconds." Came the return voice as Shedon had ten seconds to consider that as his eyes widened and his lips twitched into a grin.

"Fall back! Fall back!" He ordered as the others formed an orderly fighting retreat, pulling the Huk into another position as the Mandalorians primed detonators for vast amounts of explosives that they had planted around the forest. Still, such things were there just to cover their retreat, the real support was coming, and it came in the form of the clearing exploding from multiple impacts that almost felt like artillery strikes, clouds of dust being thrown up as a beam of energy raked over the clearing, killing more Huk before _He_ joined the fight, landing on top of the Huk as swords extended from his wrists.

Shedon knew that the Rancor Hunter was something to see in a fight, regardless of the massive suit of armor he was currently wearing, but what he saw before him was truly something else. The man fought like he was possessed, one hand holding a massive gun that sprayed bolts of Plasma all over the place while his other hand was used to hack and slash at the Huk while the massive turret on his shoulder sang with savage glee. Missiles stormed out from his shoulders and shins while he moved forwards, undaunted by the Blaster bolts that impacted him as he crossed the distance in moments, little more than a black and grey blur that trailed blood behind it.

The Huk stood no chance as he carved into them like a rabid Rancor hungry for a meal, sweeping hits killed them by the dozen while those that were too close to him found themselves deafened and disorientated before being killed by Plasma and Vibro-blades. Soon, he had cleared a wide path through the enemy formation as he advanced on the Jedi deep at its heart while they pulled back, knowing that they should do so as they had already done their jobs.

Still, some of the Mandalorians, himself included, stayed behind to watch what was happening with interest as the man advanced on the Jedi, firing away at anyone that got too close before firing at the injured one, he was too slow to react, and, as a result, was blown to pieces by so much kinetic energy being transferred into him that caused flesh, bone, carapace and chitin to be sprayed everywhere. The Human Jedi didn't do much better as he raised his blade to attack and moved quickly, to others, such an attack would have seen the Rancor Hunter dead, as the Human Jedi came in too fast for a normal being to react.

Then again, few had ever considered the Rancor Hunter to be normal.

Dropping his Plasma cannon as it retreated on a long chain to his waist, he raised his other hand and more blades extended, blocking the Lightsaber, shocking all those present, especially when the Lightsaber itself suddenly fizzled and hissed as the blade shut down. So shocked at his main weapon being defeated, the Jedi didn't manage to react in time to the swipe that removed his right arm from his body, nor his left, nor the hand that clamped itself around his neck before the three metre tall behemoth lifted him into the air with a single hand even as the turret on his shoulder blazed away.

"..." The Rancor Hunter offered no words to the Jedi as a crunch and crack was heard throughout the clearing before he dropped the Jedi to the ground, who's neck was now significantly thinner than it was before. Even as the turret continued to fire, Shedon saw the _Beroya_ quickly picking up the Jedi's fallen weapons and taking them with him even as he fired a few more shots. Leaping into the air as his wings unfolded, Shedon saw him take a few more hits as he returned fire with an oversized rifle-like weapon that left another trail of death behind it like the weapon in his shoulder turret.

"... We're done here. Pull out." The Rancor Hunter stated as they obeyed without question. Many knew of the skill and capabilities of the Rancor Hunter, and, after that little display, none disobeyed him.

Still, Shedon felt more than a bit apprehensive on the flight back, especially as the _Beroya_ seemed to hover near him, or, more likely, the White Huntress.

Silently, he wondered what the relationship between the two of them were even as the surviving Huk tried following after them.

The sounds of distant explosions seemed to work to convince them otherwise.

 **XXX**

As soon as we had returned to Merc Town, I grabbed Avun from the Mandalorian with a nod of thanks, throwing him a Credit chip full of about ten thousand credits in thanks along with a promise of buying each other drinks at a later time. I absently agreed to such things, but wasn't paying much attention to it as I rushed back to the _Dakka Hunter_ , moving passed the A-63 that had remained to guard my ship, I made my way into the cargo bay as fast as possible as I mentally checked on Avun, who had fallen unconscious during the trip back to Merc Town. I frowned at that, but sighed in relief that her vitals were still going strong as I put her on a bench that I had swept clear of the random bits and pieces that were on it. Quickly, I brought out a Bio-computer and began scanning her as, with the aid of some telekinesis, I started stripping her of her armor.

Slipping out of my armor in the process, I looked over the readings with a frown, her left arm was gone from the shoulder down, she had multiple fractured ribs, thankfully nothing broken, and some damage to her lower spine that, normally, would have meant that she would have been paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of her life.

Not really something that was a problem. No, the problem came in the form of her missing arm since, while I could heal her, I still needed Biomass to work with. Healing things like bruises, cuts, burns and broken bones was easy enough, but trying to regrow a limb was well beyond me at this point. Even when I was enhancing myself biologically, I needed raw materials, resulting in me eating a hell of a lot more than I normally did. I grimaced at that, since I knew it was going to be a pain in the ass to fix, but I'd wait to hear from Avun before doing anything to it, since it was her body I was thinking of mucking around with.

With that in mind, I turned my attention to figuring out what I could do to replace the arm. Quickly, I discarded the idea of using Magic to heal her since, even after all this time, I was absolutely shit at any Magic that had anything to do with healing. I knew a few Biomancer spells, some Elemental spells, some innovations and a few other things, but those were only the things I was confident in using, everything else I either couldn't use or hadn't practiced enough to confidently use them. That left me with the idea of using either a Bio-system replacement, a Cybernetic replacement, or, if she was willing, a Bionic replacement. Honestly, the idea of using the first two was rather simple, the former being a cloned and attached limb while the latter was more along the lines of a metal limb like what Anakin had. A Bionic replacement, on the other hand, was only vaguely, though it did vary, Humanoid in shape and required extensive and invasive modifications such as strengthened bones and muscles to cope with it. However, it came with the added bonus of being far stronger and capable of using much heavier weapons than a normal arm could manage.

Still, I'd leave it up to Avun, something that I'd need to wait a while for since a quick Induce Sleep ensured that she wouldn't be waking up too soon so as to recover her strength as I moved over to one of the A-63s that was in the room, one of six in the ship.

"Call back both of the AA-60s and three of the A-64s. Have them aid you and your squad in defending this ship, with a priority on protecting Avun should the ship no longer be a defensible position. If that becomes the case, arm the scuttling charges and make an escape. Also, should she wake up before I'm back, ensure that she is fed and rests, check her injuries and ensure she doesn't do anything rash, such as making her way off the ship and towards the battlefield. Understood?" I asked as the machine nodded.

"Understood Master. It shall be done." With that, I turned, put my armor back on and left the ship.

As I left, I paused at what I saw waiting for me outside my vessel, mainly, it was the fact that I saw a group of Kaleesh, all of which were looking at me with differing levels of awe, and Mercs, who were looking at me with varying levels of interest and caution, waiting for me, the Overseer among them.

"Hunter, I trust that your companion is alright?" Came the voice of the Overseer as I nodded.

"She is stable, though the lack of an arm is something to be addressed at a later date." I replied as he nodded, gesturing me to follow him as I closed the ramp behind me.

"Good. Though I have called you for another reason. Mainly, I wish to know how you believe this battle shall turn out." He asked as I considered it.

"We shall win, probably with a fair number of loses, but we shall win all the same. This attack was a desperate gamble by the Huk and the Republic, but one that had a chance of success. Now though, that chance has dropped significantly with the loss of both of the Jedi. Now, we simply need to deal with the Huk on the planet, something that shouldn't be too difficult, though, I would advice caution since we don't know what they might have hidden away, though, I can say that they do have one thing in their ships. Nuclear weapons." I spoke, causing silence to descend upon the area as they all looked at me.

"Explain." Came the voice of the Overseer.

"My sensors picked up the Nuclear bombs inside their ships, I counted eight in total with three having been damaged beyond use by my attack on one of the landing zones. The remaining five have been spread among the rest of the group, but I think I understand what they wished to do originally. They wished to drop them on you from above, something that is no longer possible due to the current situation, since their fighter cover is being suppressed so efficiently. If they tried it, they would be torn apart before they even managed to make for their target." I stated as the Overseer looked at me with narrowed eyes before nodding at that.

"Then, it seems I have _another_ job for you besides the one that I originally came to give you." He stated simply. "In addition to hunting down these weapons and rendering them unusable, I want you to attack their forces before they reach our defenses along with ensuring that they have no escape. Is that understood?" I merely nodded.

"And payment?" I asked, more out of curiosity than anything else.

"Name it and we shall see." I was rather surprised at _that_ , but no one could see it through my armor.

"First pick of one of the Landing zones of my choosing, whatever the Jedi were carrying with them when I dealt with them, and a few favors that I might cash in at a later date." I stated simply, most of what I had said wasn't all that difficult, especially since I knew it was stuff that the Kaleesh had already promised. Seeing nothing wrong with it, the Overseer nodded.

"Very well."

"Then let's begin."

 **XXX**

From such great heights, one can often think that the problems that plagued entire worlds were distant, unimportant things that mattered little to them. There was an almost physical disconnect from the concerns of the world around you as height increased until one left the world behind them and entered the void of space.

I hadn't even gone that far, two kilometres at most, but that was all that was needed.

From such a height, my view was supreme. It allowed me to see all things that look place below me, like the view of a God peering down upon the lowly mortals below him from his heavenly throne. However, I cared very little about such ideas and the romance of such heights as I looked down at the world below, sensors taken from multiple sources working to detect my targets, locking on to them and tracking them as my turret moved on my shoulder. Mentally, I considered how to attack before I frowned, did it really matter how they died, besides the fact that they died?

Shaking my head, I realized the answer to that. No, it really didn't matter.

As such, thoughts raced through my mind, commanding my armor as I changed a few settings in my Boom Guns, altering their launching speeds to allow for a larger cone spray of flechettes, optimizing the weapon for a shorter range, but making it all the more deadly within that range. Not only that, but such a thing was also rather useful for attacking targets at greater ranges, as I could extend the optimal range of the Rail Gun by a few hundred metres. Such a difference, especially since it just meant that the flechettes wouldn't spread out as much, but it _was_ useful if I wanted to try sniping with said guns. A wry smile came to my face at that, well, as much as one _could_ snipe with an Anti-tank weapon.

With that done, I triggered my engines to stop, my wings folding back away as I dropped, falling straight for the ground as I leaned forwards, directing myself into a steep dive as my armor computer denoted the multiple nukes I had detected earlier. More detailed scans told me what they were, Fusion reactors that had been turned into ad hoc nukes, something that only made it easier for me as they had yet to be activated, meaning that a single shot from me to them and they would be ruined. Furthermore, what made things even better was that the Huk had been stupid enough to carry the weapons all together, not in the same vehicle, but certainly not far apart. As such, I raised my Assault Cannon in one hand, while my turret pointed elsewhere, targeting locks flashed in my HUD before I smiled, I waited until I was practically on top of them before I fired once more.

Sonic booms filled the air as I pulled the trigger on each of my weapons, aiming for their formation of Z-12 Cargo Masters, each one having been modified into an open air transport for their forced, one that obviously wasn't really going to work all that well. I smiled thinly as I didn't even have time to blink to see the results of my work, flechette rounds, having sprayed out of the two Boom Guns, had ripped three craft apart, mincing the passengers and crew as I watched them both go up in smoke, a snap shot from the turret-mounted Particle Beam erased another Landspeeder while the Beam from my Assault Cannon removed another from existence. As a consequence, I also found myself down four Nukes to deal with, leaving me with only a fifth one to destroy, something that was dealt with in short order as an armored panel on my left shoulder and launched a set of Mini-missiles at the fleeing craft.

It didn't get far before it's rear was detonated with the power of the warheads, shockwaves rippling through it, killing the crew while shredding the cargo.

Smirking in vindictive glee, I flipped, my wings unfolding as I swung around, having dropped straight into the middle of the Huk formation, a rather nice demonstration of shock and awe, before I continued to move on as Vibro-blades deployed from my off-hand as I swung down, cutting through the main engine and cockpit while a quick Mini-missile killed what remained of the crew. A second Landspeeder met it's end by being cored by a Particle Beam as the passengers tried jumping to the ground as I gunned them down with my Laser cannon, not even offering them a moment of rest as many more died even as I accelerated. Picking speed up quickly as the Huk finally recovered from the shock assault I had just deployed upon them, I folded my wings away once more as I slammed into another Landspeeder, breaking through durasteel armor through sheer momentum before firing out the other side as gore decorated my armor. Said gore was rapidly boiled away as Blaster bolts started flying at me, leaving scorch marks on my armor, but doing little beyond that as most of the incoming fire was either ignored or dodged.

Still, the Huk didn't have much volume of Blaster fire coming at me, few of the Huk seemed to have bothered with Blasters, and those that had were pathetic at aiming them. This was especially true when one considered the fact that they had only three Overlanders left, all filled with their troops as they tried to do a high-speed turn and make a run for their landing zones.

 _ **BOOM! BOOM!**_

Not that such a thing was going to happen. Two of the Repulsorcraft suddenly found themselves blown to hell by Boom Gun fire while the last one didn't even get that as I crashed into it at high-speed, knocking it off course as Vibro-blade deployed from my forearms and I went to work. The screams of the Huk filled the air as I cut them to pieces, Cortosis-coated blades working wonderfully to rip the Bugs apart before I finally finished things with a Mini-missile to remove what was left of the Huk before taking to the air once more. A quick scan followed to ensure that none had survived before I moved on to the Landing zones.

Twenty minutes later, all of the landing zones had found themselves annihilated, the ships ripped to pieces by a rain of M.D.C needles while corpses lay smoking around the area, some cut in half while others had smoking holes burned through tortured flesh.

In less than a day, the invasion of Kalee had finished, along with the last chance for a Huk victory over the Kaleesh.

 **XXX**

AN: Here is another chapter of this. Hope you enjoyed it. Until next time!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I own nothing, this is purely for recreational purposes.

 **XXX**

Blinking her eyes open, Avun felt tired, her muscles sore and stiff as she pushed passed the grogginess that had settled over her mind from her time asleep, moving onwards to full wakefulness as she quickly glanced around, to see where she was, for no other reason than old habit. Amazingly, she found herself in her room aboard the _Dakka Hunter_ , something that she had not been expecting as she considered the last thing she remembered.

"... The ambush outside Merc Town... The two Jedi... I dismembered one of the Jedi but..." As she considered this, her eyes suddenly went wide as she remembered the image of a spirally Lightsaber heading straight for her. The Chiss found herself remembering the pain of the hit as she snapped her head round to look her right side, only to freeze in shock and surprise as she looked down at what she saw.

Or what she didn't see.

Looking down at herself, her form covered by one of her shirts, she saw the loose sleave that flopped around as there was nothing to fill it, her right arm being completely missing from her body and as she considered it, she could feel the bandages that were under her shirt along with what felt like Bacta against her skin. Pulling her shirt collar to one side, she looked more closely to see the extent of the damage as she spotted the wrappings around her shoulder, not even a stump of her arm remaining from before her encounter with the Jedi. The Chiss frowned at that as she considered what that could mean for her, already considering things as she knew that, while it was possible to get replacement limbs, said limbs were primarily mechanical ones, which required long periods of time to properly acclimatize to. Cloned limbs, while difficult to obtain due to the relative rarity of cloning technologies, were possible, but those could take years to properly cultivate due to most of the Galaxy going with the approach of growing a clone to the proper age, hacking it's limb off once it's at said age and then grafting it on.

Avun had done her research on such things, having been interested in the subject and knowing that someone, especially in a position such as herself, might need such information to be able to make an informed choice. Still, she knew that such operations required skilled personnel, not to mention a fair amount of funding due to their price tags, good quality mechanical replacement limbs were expensive, ruinously so for a cloned limb grafted on to her.

Suddenly, Avun was brought out of her musings by the sound of rapid footsteps coming from outside her quarters, her door opened a moment later to admit her friend into the room. Looking at him, Avun allowed herself a small smile as she saw the man before her scan her with her eyes, not out of lust, but concern. Wearing his usual casual clothing, Michael moved quickly to her side and kneeled down next to her with a smile on his face, but concern still showing in his eyes.

"Hey, Avun. You feeling alright? No aches or pains?" He asked softly as she offered a nod to him as she tore her eyes away from her missing limb.

"No." The Chiss murmured back to him as he nodded happily at that before clasping her free hand before his eyes seemed to glaze over for a moment. It passed quickly, but was a giveaway that he was using his abilities, making her curious as to what he was doing. She decided that it might have been better to just ask him, rather than making assumptions, since Michael seemed to greatly enjoy her voicing false assumptions.

"What did you just do?" She asked quietly as he gently put her hand back down, on to the bed.

"Psionic abilities are split between four branches; Healing, Physical, Sensitive and what are commonly called Super-Psionics. What I just used on you was an ability of the Healing branch called Psychic Diagnosis. It basically lets me instantly know what injuries anyone within about 0.9 of a metre have, internally or externally, though, I've found it works better with physical contact." Michael said as he stood up slightly as, without explanation, the chair that she had under a nearby desk rolled and turned, putting itself under him as she mentally added Telekinesis to that list of ability.

"After your run in with the Jedi, I used that, plus another one that lets me heal you to fix you up." He stated before glancing at her arm, a frown on his face. "Unfortunately, such abilities still have to work within the bounds of reality and require that I work with what biomass you have in your body. And, since you don't have enough biomass in your body to regrow your own arm, not without health complications further down the line, I'm afraid that was the only injury I wasn't able to immediately fix."

Avun looked on in interest at that, mentally wondering what other abilities that Michael had for what felt like the hundredth time, along with cursing whatever deity had denied her such a potent and wonderful ability as Psionics. The sheer range of abilities and their versatility making it something that would make any Bounty Hunter worth their salt willing to sell their firstborn just to have for a week, Avun being no exception.

By all Nine Corillian Hells! She would have just settled on being a Force User if she could learn how to use it to heal herself when she was in trouble!

However, as she continued her mental rant against any Higher Powers that might have existed, Michael's words suddenly registered in her mind as she considered what they meant, the implications and couldn't help but feel joy at that before she slowed down and then started consider it in more detail. Sure, she had known Michael for a while, but she still knew so little about him, not to mention the fact that he seemed to only grow more powerful every time they fought, usually revealing another ability or skill that seemed to be exactly what was needed. Still, such thoughts could wait for the time being.

"'Immediately fix'? Are you saying that you could give me a new arm? Just like that?" She asked with no small amount of wonder leaking into her tone. Her tone and hope only grew as the Rancor Hunter nodded with a slight smile.

"Yeah, though, keep in mind that it will take a fair bit of time to have all the necessary materials and equipment ready to carry out the procedures to give you a new arm, depending on what type of arm you want." The Human-looking being stated as Avun looked at him with curiosity and interest present in her gaze.

"What type? what do you mean by that?" She asked, curious as to what he could be implying by that. Cupping his chin, Michael started to explain as he only smiled fondly at her.

"Well, for limb replacements, there are three options: The first is a Bio-system replacement, basically a cloned limb that we'd graft on to you. Not really anything special and would just be as much flesh and blood as your normal arms, it would still take a month or two to grow it, but it would mean that you'd have your arm back with no trouble. The second option would be a cybernetic limb, basically a mechanical replacement that would be bolted on to your skeleton, slightly stronger than your original arm, and also with the ability to house various weapons and bits of technology as you wish. Lastly, there is a full Bionic replacement, which would be stronger, more durable and more potent than the Cybernetic replacement, but would require fairly invasive surgery due to needing to strengthen the rest of your body to cope with the weight of it." He stated simply as the Chiss absorbed this new information like a sponge as she compiled a list of questions to ask, her previous annoyance and regret over losing her arm gone due to this new development.

"What about other types of augments? You talked about limb replacements, but you implied you had other things that I could use?" She asked as that was the first question that sprang to mind, her most recent near-death experience making her all the more aware of her own mortality, and her wish to remain alive rather than dying horribly. Michael scratched his chin at that before answering.

"Well, I've already mentioned Bio-systems, Cybernetic and Bionic augments, but there are a few others that I know of. M.O.M augments, or Mind over Matter, are available, though, those usually carry a fair number of risks to them since they can cause various different psychological illnesses to develop, such as addictions, obsessions, various insanities and the like. Psynetics are variation of that technology that can either grant Psonics to people with either a latent or no ability, or augment already existing Psionic abilities, though, they still carry the same risks as before. There are also Bio-augmentations that you could undergo, similar to what I have." He stated, causing Avun to look at him with interest as he said that even as she mentally noted those Psynetics and what they did, silently promising herself to get them as soon as possible, if only because it could mean she wouldn't have to worry about any uneven footing once again.

Not to mention to quell the burning desire and jealously that she expertly hid in her heart about Michael's ability, having slowly developed an envy of his ability and a wish to have similar abilities herself.

"What do you mean? Why would you need Bio-augments? And for that matter, what do you mean by Bio-augments? Were you Human once?" She asked, growing more curious as to what kind of technologies his kind knew of in order to change themselves to drastically from the standard. Michael chuckled at that.

"Yes and no. You see, I wasn't born, more like, I was created to serve a purpose." He stated cryptically as he leaned back in his acquired chair. "I was created as a part of a Super-soldier project back on my homeworld, the idea being to create a being that was well above the norm of Human standards using any and all possible technologies available, along with inscribing said subjects with a near-genetic level instinct to constantly be looking for ways to augment and improve themselves to be better soldiers. Over five hundred of us were created in a limited production run, the results of which exceeded everyone's expectations and we were due to begin being mass produced when it happened..." Michael explained as she started, mesmerized by his tale as he trailed off.

"'It'?" She asked as he nodded.

"The Great Cataclysm. An event that happened three centuries ago that ended up throwing my world back to medieval times after so many centuries at a near technological apex. I don't really know the full background, but I know that things were bad. Sometime during then, I was woken up to discover my entire world had changed, things had changed and I was alone, the other subjects having died during the Cataclysm as part of the complex that held us had collapsed on top of them." He said with a shrug as he stood up and made to leave, but, as he reached the door, he turned and looked at her over his shoulder.

"I'll come by later with a Datapad with a list of all the augments I know of on it, take your pick from there if you really want more than just a new arm, though, I'll also want to know about what kind of new arm you want, since I will want to start working on that as soon as possible. For now, just rest."

And with that, the Human Super-soldier left her alone to her thoughts, her mind whipping around like a wild sea as she struggled to understand what could have happened to cause such an event.

Left to herself, Avun silently wondered about the trust and faith that Michael had shown her by telling her about his past. And, as she did so, she considered about whether or not she should tell him about herself in turn, as she felt that such trust should not be regarded with even more secrets between the two, especially when Michael was willing to go to such lengths just to allow her some piece of mind.

 **XXX**

Walking away from Avun's room as I left her to rest, I sighed as I thanked every god in existence that she was alright even as I held back a slight grimace at lying about my backstory. Still, I figured that such things were a _lot_ more believable than the truth of the matter, which only showed the truth in the old saying of 'The truth is far stranger than fiction'.

Still, it didn't meant that I _liked_ the idea of lying to someone that I considered a good friend, hence why I was willing to augment them as a means of offering an unspoken, and secret, apology to her for lying. Still, I was rather surprised with how enthused she was with the offer, given how her emotions had bounced at the thought, but I'd let her be since I knew that such things would take time to settle, especially in the aftermath of her recent trauma. Sighing once more, I was just glad that the Kalee job was finished, having loaded up my loot in the cargo bay and had my machines pick through it for anything of interest as I had taken first pick of the least damaged landing zone. Though, I'd say that such things were relative, I thought with a smile, especially given the damage I had done with those Boom Guns.

Walking into the Cargo Bay, I saw a dozen A-63s moving around, carrying junk around as it was recycled into scrap for the nanofabricator even as I saw a few gems of equipment here and there for me to look through at a later time as I grabbed a datapad and started working through it, making a complete list of the augments I could offer Avun. Honestly, I wasn't really bothered about augmenting her, since I was of the opinion that good friends should be looked after, especially since I was in short supply of friends. As such, I also made a mental note to either remove or reduce the risks involved in using the M.O.M implants, since such things usually carried risks in their own right.

Avun was many things, one of which was envious of my Psionics, so it was easy to see that she would be going for those straight off the bat.

With that in mind, I turned to address one of the A-64s, the spider-like machine turning to face me as I approached.

"Master." It said, acknowledging me as I nodded back to it.

"Start working on an automated medical suite. I want it specialized for the implantation, removal and maintenance of any kind of implant or augmentation that I will list in a database at a later time, along with being programmed with an artificial intelligence so as to allow it to figure out how to create new implants to fit with the requests of its users. Also, I want the Chiss known as Kammi'avun'nera, or Avun for short, to be granted user-level authority over all robots I've currently assembled, though, I will remain with Administrator-level authority." I ordered as the machine nodded before getting back to work. I, in turn, went back to sitting on the crate to finish up the database.

However, not even halfway across the Cargo bay, I saw the world around me change, distorting like some bizarre painting done by M.C. Escher as colours inverted and the world around me filled with eye-watering fractal patterns that hurt my brain to even look at as I felt myself drop. I fell through the air a moment later, falling and spirally futilely through the air before coming in and landing on the 'ground' a platform of solid yellow with the edges looking like the tendrils of a jellyfish as I looked around, only feeling my head hurt and my eyes water before my thoughts were interrupted by a voice from behind me.

"Observation: Well then, it seems that you've made a fair bit of progress in the time you've been here, haven't you Meatbag?" I heard from behind me as I turned, only to find my eyebrows shooting up, almost disappearing under my hair line at what I saw.

"HK-47? Really?" I couldn't help but voice as the being in the form of a machine shrugged.

"Statement: Merely a flight of fancy since I considered this form to be of more comfort to you than some of those from the world of your knowledge." The being said as I shuddered at the thought of some of the more... _Exotic_ D-bees.

"Fair point. Still, I'm guessing that you're the one that yanked me and dropped me here?" I asked, curious as to whether I was looking at the one responsible or just a proxy for said being.

"Affirmation: That would be correct. Statement: And I must say that you have proven to being highly entertaining at that. As such, I have decided to change the rules of your existence here as a kind of... Motivation to keep entertaining me until I either grow tired of you or allow you to leave and move on to greener pastures. Inquisitive Inquiry: Interested...?" The faux-droid asked, getting the tone right as I considered the offer carefully. Honestly speaking, the offer seemed like something to jump at, but I didn't know the conditions of it, nor what to expect from the being for doing whatever it considered entertaining.

"Before we continue, can you tell me what it is that you want me to do, specifically, what you would consider as good entertainment so that I can focus on those areas of the Galaxy. For another thing, how would this 'Motivation' work? Would it be reward based? Also, would I be able to still collect said reward, if it is based on such a system, if I only carried out such a task via a proxy, such as a PMC or servant that was directed to do so by myself?" I asked, wanting more clear conditions to work with, since I disliked the vagueness of those statements. If the being was annoyed by my statements, it didn't show it, in fact, I got the distinct impression that the machine was smiling at me.

"Observation statement: Good, you are not merely jumping straight to accepting my offer without some consideration and information. Statement: As for your requests of information, allow me to explain. Explanation: It would be a reward-based system, as you have already guessed, in that you would be rewarded for taking part in various battles, even wars. The greater the conflict, and the more brutal it is, at least in terms of this local universe, the better. With each conflict you progress through, I shall reward you with, let us call it, a Milestone. Though, I shall not do so for every battle, merely for those that have acquired my interest through the use of brutal force, creative tactics or strategies, or overwhelming force delivered upon your enemies. As for proxies, I shall allow such things, but to a point, as if you, personally, don't involve yourself in the battle, then I shall either give you a lesser reward, or not give you one at all." I nodded at that, quietly considering it and felt that the pros outweighed the cons by a fair margin, but felt that I needed to ask one further question.

"And the rewards, what form would they come in?" I asked.

"Informative: The rewards would come in whatever form I see fit to give to you: Weapons, armor, equipment, vehicles, slaves, it doesn't matter, merely know that you shall get your rewards." The being said as I felt myself disliking that last point as I felt uncomfortable with the idea of having slaves under my command, but figured that it was better to just accept it rather than offend a being that could unmake my entire existence with the snap of its fingers. Not to mention the fact that I had long since started losing a few morals from working in the Galactic Underworld, especially given my past sources of employment.

Pragmatism having won out over idealism and morality, since I quite enjoyed living, thank you ever so much.

"... Very well, I accept your offer, and shall begin searching out interesting battles along with building up my own forces." I stated as I saw the world starting to twist once more as the eye-watering patterns only grew in complexity as I felt the smug satisfaction from the Droid.

"Smug Statement: I knew you would see things my way. Reassurance: And don't worry, none of your companions shall notice your prizes, merely believing that you have always had them. Your first prize shall be waiting for you once you return Meatbag. Closing Remark: Do not disappoint me."

And like that, I suddenly found myself back in the Cargo Bay of my ship, having stopped mid-step and was looking around the room as I heard the sounds of my robots working behind me. I blinked at that, trying to figure out what the hell had just happened before I froze at the sight of what I believed to be my 'reward' for the fight back on Kalee, not to mention proof that what had happened hadn't just been some kind of strange dream.

A Greater Rune Weapon in the form of simple, double edged long sword, a basic cross guard with a diamond shaped pommel and grip while a tribal design ran through the fuller of the blade in red while the black metal of the weapon seemed to soak in all light around it. Some part of me knew what it was at first glance, just as I knew that it was my reward for what had happened on Kalee a few hours previously.

And part of me was just begging to use it, something that scared me more than I'd admit.

 **XXX**

Happily humming to herself, Avun looked over the information before her with a smile as she sat up in her bed. Before her lay a series of datapads, a tray filled with empty bowls and plates, and a small collection of datapads with information she had downloaded from the holonet for her own purposes.

Namely, those purposes were researching anything related to any form of augmentation that she could find before she had discarded such things as being too expensive and, as such, outside her price range unless they were for something of dire importance, such as replacing a lost limb. On those pads, she had ideas, rough designs and lists of materials that she would have loved to use for any such augments as she considered what to have implanted into herself. Still, she had kept such information on her person, even through the Hidden Hand incident that had saw to the loss of the rest of her belongings.

Still, now she had a chance to put that knowledge to use rather than leaving it to gather dust in the corner of her quarters.

As such, she had immediately started making notes of the various augments, implants and replacement limbs that were offered, along with a note that she could use her imagination to come up with a few more augments if she wished. The Chiss was surprised by that, but not enough to object, especially when Michael said he would see about what kind of materials that she could use for her new augments, she suggested Phrik or Songsteel for an armored layers, which he, surprisingly, decided to humor her with. A few hours later, he said that they were heading for Corellia in three days, where a shipment of Phrik was going to be waiting for them at a predetermined location. Her face, as a result, was apparently quite a picture given that she had heard Michael laughing at her as he walked out of the room. Still, it was enough for her to know that Michael really meant what he said when she had also asked him why he was so willing to spend so many credits to see her fully restored and to humor her with the idea of so many invasive augments.

He had replied simply: "Good, trustworthy, friends are hard to come by in the Outer Rim, doubly so for the Mid Rim and the Core. And it was even worse back on my homeworld. As such, good friends are worth a hell of a lot more than a pile of Credits to me; After all, lost Credits can easily be gained back through various means, lost friends... Not so much..."

That single statement had done a lot to help solidify her friendship with Michael, even making her understand that, as long as they remained as friends, Michael would be there for her, something she intended to repay in kind, especially given all that he had obviously done for her. However, such things could wait until she was fully augmented, a process that, given her growing list of augments and ideas, was bound to take several months, at the very least, to complete, including the time to properly learn how to use her new abilities. Looking down at the list, her eyes zeroed in on one particular section that covered the Psynetic augments that she wanted most of all, granting her a host of abilities that could easily put her on par with Michael, ensuring that she wouldn't be a burden in their partnership again. Even with Michael's repeated warnings and attempts to dissuade her from having them, she still remained steadfast in their implantation, if only so that she wouldn't have to rely on Michael so heavily, nor expect him to do all the 'grunt' work. Along with that, it also felt exhilarating to have the chance to gain abilities that only Jedi could normally use, even the risks seemed inconsequential when compared to the rewards, not to mention Michael's own words regarding trying to minimalise the side effects. That alone was more than enough to make her lose all worry over the possible side effects of the implants, if only due to how familiar Michael was with the technology along with his apparent skill with it.

Looking at her list, she smiled as she read over it once more to ensure that she had all the various things she wished for.

 _Bionic limbs - Arms from the shoulders down and legs from the waist down. Made from some form of 'M.D.C' materials mixed with Phrik. Each arm will feature retractable blades built into each finger, a universal finger jack in the right index finger, utility laser in the left index finger. Particle Beam guns and short range Plasma Ejectors build into each arm along with one tendril built into the biceps, each one being two to three metres long to allow for use over extended distances. Legs will contain large compartments in the thighs for storage while feet are capable of turning into fully usable hand-like claws for combat and climbing. Both wrists should also contain a climbing cord to aid in climbing obstacles. All such limbs can hopefully be hidden by a false skin layer, preferably one that can be deployed at will._

 _Additional limbs - Sockets located either on the shoulders or on the shoulder blades for the attachment of two additional arms with similar features to main pair. Still undecided. Four tendrils built into the shoulder blades, each one being up to four and a half metres long and capable of retracting completely into the body. Two of the tendrils will be tipped with Universal jacks along while the other two will feature manipulator claws at the ends of them._

 _Eyes - Multi-optic eyes with Thermal imaging, Nightvision, Targeting display, x4 to x30 magnification and light filters. Optical nerve video implant also possible for additional input from augments._

 _Ears - Amplified hearing and Ultra-ear augments for increased hearing range and frequency. Language translator, programmed with Protocol Droid software._

 _Sensors - Bio-comp self-monitoring system, to monitor biological components: Modified to allow for internal modification to nerve outputs such as pain or other sensations. Radar, Radiation detector, sonar, metal and motion detectors. Low-frequency audio detection system, allowing for detection of individuals through ground-based vibrations. Audio Filters, to allow for the focus of one particular sound along with removing vulnerability to Stun Grenades. DNA and Molecular analyser, to allow for better tracking of individuals, either through DNA or 'scent'._

 _Stealth Augments - Cyber-disguise Type AA-1 to allow for complete alterations to the structure, shape and features face and head, combine with full body alteration to alter skin pigmentation at will. Will allow for alteration of body to the point of looking like someone else, limited to individuals of the female gender. Changes include skin pigmentation, bone structure, eyes colour, skin pattern and voice. Can be pre-programmed with six different disguises to use. Cyber-disguise Suppliment Type ASH included to aid in altering the hair through four different colours, each with six different shades. Cyber-breasts included to allow for increase or decrease of breast size by a single cup to aid in infiltration and fitting into appropriate clothing for such events. Bionic Gills and Filters to allow for survival in hostile atmospheres or underwater, along with internal oxygen rebreather and vacuum hardening for space-based operations._

 _Slicing - Modified Data Chip, to allow for internal storage and review of information without the need for surgery. Computer Virus Carrier, to allow for multiple slicer tools to be carried internally before being released upon a target. Computer Hacking Encoder, to allow for Brute force approach when time is of the essence, usually when stealth is not an option or when slicing attempt has been discovered. Hacking Computer, as the main method of slicing without being discovered. Hyper-link, for greater control over the computer system and slicing attempts._

 _Armor - All Bionic limbs to be made from M.D.C.-Phrik Alloy while biological components are to be protected via sub-dermal armor weave made from fibres and scale-mesh of the same material. Bones will all be reinforced with same alloy with other armor plates implanted over vital locations. Additional armor to be present in sheaths along the edge of each Bionic limb, built into the collar bones and along the spine. Hardened circuits, to better resist such things as Ion weapons due to the potential damage they might be able to cause._

 _Self-repair - Cyber-Nano-Robot Repair system to allow for the repair of both Bionic and organic components, programmed to focus on such areas, mainly the internal structure of body along with surface of organic body to repair damage. Micro-Repair Robots, made for the repair of less advanced components, mainly armor plating breaches, skin and superstructure._

 _Power systems - Internal Nuclear Micro-power cell, Fusion based, with ability to refuel. Linked to weapon systems for unlimited ammunition._

 _Psynetics - Two Kinesis Machine implants, one programmed for Telekinesis while the other is programmed for Electrokinesis. One Psionic Inducer to create baseline Psionic powers, no matter how weak they might turn out to be. Two Psychometric Amplifiers, programmed with abilities to be determined at a later time. One Psychometric Boaster, to increase all aspects of abilities._

 _M.O.M - Eternal Brain, to allow continued life well past the possibility of most races if need be._

Avun smiled happily as she looked down at her completed list of abilities, especially at the last two sections. Yes, she knew the risks of those particular types of augments, Michael having gone into a detailed, at-length explanation as to the risks of each M.O.M and Psynetic implant long ago, but she didn't feel that it was enough to scare her from the path she wished to travel with these augments. Thinking back to her own past, she would have loved having these kinds of augments if given half the chance back on Csilla, it would have made her former occupation so much easier in so many ways, maybe even to the point of preventing her from being exiled.

Frowning at that thought, she cast it aside as she considered the implications of that. If she hadn't been exiled, then that would have meant that she wouldn't have been able to meet Michael, something that she now considered much more important an event in her life than some stupid government that hadn't even appreciated what she had gone through, what she had lost, in the effort to serve her people. Lightly, she considered her loyalties as she considered that, amazingly, she no longer felt all that much loyalty to her people, having been thrown out by them for doing her job. Then again, one could expect that, but she felt that she could trust Michael with that same loyalty as she considered just how willing she was to trust him.

The answer to that question coming almost instantly as she thought about it, recent events only serving to reinforce the answer as she nodded to herself as her resolve set. She _would_ get these augments, if only to ensure that Michael could trust her to be capable of watching his back as he was at watching her own back in a fight.

Since, in all honesty, she trusted Michael with her life, especially when he trusted her with the same.

 **XXX**

"God fucking Damnit!" I cursed as I took cover behind what remained of a heavy loader Droid that had already died rather violently during the fight as I used Presence Sense to locate my targets as I looked down at my current loadout of weapons and smiled. It had been a month since Kalee, over a year since I had appeared in the SW-verse, and I had _finally_ decided to go for the upgrade to an all energy-based weapon loadout with a pair of CP-20 Laser Pulse Pistols and another pair of upgraded NG-45LP Particle Beam pistols. The old Big Bore Revolver and TX-6 Revolver had been thrown away to be recycled, but these had already started working well for me.

As shown when I peeked out of cover, snapped off three shots from one of my 'Long Pistol' Particle Beam pistols, and found their targets no longer existing as stable matter before I had to duck back into cover. Another Presence Sense and I found that more idiots were rushing into the hanger as I rolled my eyes, glancing to the side as I saw my target, hogtied with a cloth gag in his mouth and looking rather nervous about what was about to happen to him.

I didn't need Empathy to know that the idiot was scared shitless, the twin stains on the Rodian's pants was enough of a clue of that even as I rolled my eyes at that. Honestly, the fucker thought he could flip the bird at both the Hutts and the Black Suns and get away with it?

Jesus, I was almost tempted to say that these Bounties were getting dumber and dumber every time I turned my back. This fucker hadn't even been outside the Tatoo system, he had been holed up inside an ad hoc space station that had been on the opposite side of Tatooine's orbital path, hidden by the shadow's of the twin stars, but not nearly enough to prevent the idiot from being found. He thought it was the perfect place to start a new criminal cartel, I thought he was just plain stupid. Still, things weren't helped by this idiot's stupidity, nor was it helped by the idiots who were currently shooting at my cover with a mixture of heavy Blasters and Ion Blasters. I couldn't even say it was funny at how stupid they were, not even bothering to take cover as a few of them seemed keen on trying to advance even as they got to me and found themselves with no ammo to speak of.

The fact that most of them didn't seem to understand the concept of 'aiming' didn't help either, if only because it made these meatheads all the more annoying.

"Ah fuckit!" I cursed under my breath as I had finally had enough of this shit as I reached into my coat and pulled out a Thermal detonator, enhanced with Tibanna gas from Bespin and primed. I saw the Rodian's eyes suddenly go wide with horror as he saw that, shaking and screaming in his bonds. I honestly didn't give a fuck, the Bounty on this idiot's head was still valid even if I just had to turn in a severed head, if only a lesser amount. Still, I planned to get as much money out of this as I could as I spotted a small shuttle off to one side. Smirking at that, I set the timer before I threw it, grabbing my bounty at the same time and making a run for the shuttle as I heard the idiots panic behind me, even as I gave off a few snap shots from my Long Pistol just to ensure that I got a few more kills.

Jumping into the ship, a rather ill-repaired Sheathipede-class Shuttle, though, how they managed to get one from the Trade Federation was beyond me. Still, not bothering to ask questions, I threw the idiot into the craft ahead of me even as I turned and slammed the button to close the airlock for the shuttle, and not a moment too soon as the Thermal detonator went off.

I felt the ship rock as air was evacuated from the hangar around the ship, probably killing most of the goons, before I shrugged and walked passed the, now-sobbing, Rodian and headed for the cockpit of the ship. Once there, I saw my handy work and smiled rather happily as I took a seat at the controls and started bringing the ship online. The hangar had been totaled, the violent release of atmosphere had resulted in the entire hangar splitting open along with destroying the atmospheric shielding that kept the atmosphere inside the station. Random junk was floating around the area as I took off in the stolen ship and flew it out, heading for Tatooine since it was the best option, both for selling the ship along with getting the bounty as I quickly activated the autopilot and set the ship on course. Getting out of the seat and moving quickly, I kicked my Bounty, my boot aimed for the fuckers head, knocking him unconscious swiftly.

"There... Now I don't have to hear the fuck moaning and sobbing like a bitch..." I muttered to myself as I headed back for the cockpit, taking out a datapad from my coat as I started reading through some articles that I had downloaded from the holonet.

Even without that idiot sobbing, it was going to be a _long_ flight.

 **XXX**

"Pleasure doing business with you, Oh Great Jabba." I said as I bowed low, hearing the booming laughter of the Hutt even as I saw him gesture with his hand towards me.

"The Great Jabba is... Grateful... For the removal of this pest... The Great Jabba offers you this as a gift of appreciation along with your payment... As thanks for your services, Bounty Hunter..." I heard from the Protocol Droid by the Hutt's side as I saw a Human come from the side carrying two cases, one of which held my payment in the form of Peggats, roughly equal to about forty Credits each. The total payment came to about two hundred thousand Credits, a rather reasonable sum of money, but one that I hardly cared for, especially with recent events behind me. However, it was what was in the other case that drew my attention the most.

Out of habit, I had started using a few of my lesser used abilities to keep an eye on things around me, a few of my more recent run-ins with Jedi, or Force-Users in general, had revealed that I could detect them through the use of See Aura and Presence Sense, both abilities making them stick out like sore thumbs, but what I felt and saw here was rather... Different.

That alone was enough to give me a rough clue as to what I was to be _gifted_ with.

With that in mind, as I got the first case full of Peggats, I quickly opened it, using Speed Reading to count the Credits along with Object Read to make sure that there were no hidden surprises. Finding none, and seeing that the case wasn't trapped in some way, I put it down and looked at the other case, one that seemed to hold some kind of active Force signature within it. A Force signature that only seemed to waver and flow through the case and into the wider world around me, something that was more than enough to cause me to subtly tense as I opened the box, already expecting what might be inside.

I was proven wrong.

Instead of what I expected, I opened the box to find something rather interesting: A gauntlet of some description, it looked to be made of obsidian-black metal and was covered in various runic symbols that were engraved into it, along with being studded with green and red crystals, along with a few Onyx gemstones. The gauntlet itself looked to be designed for a Humanoid hand, lacking any fingers and covering the forearm up to the elbow while I spotted five gems in particular that drew my attention, one for each knuckle and a fifth on the centre of the back of the hand.

It was interesting, but what got me the most was the feeling that the object released into the world, a polar opposite to the Jedi I had encountered, who all felt kind of dull and rigid with a hint of self-righteousness. This felt of passion, energy and self-confidence, a much more individualistic approach to the more sheep-like mentality of the Jedi, who seemed to only follow those that were considered to be 'Masters' within their Order. Still, it was more than enough for me to know I was looking at a potential Sith artifact that had been gifted to me by the Hutt, though, that only made me wonder why the Hutt would give up something that had so much potential worth.

"I thank you, Oh Great Jabba, for you generosity and look forwards to further business with you." I saw as I closed the case I was holding before I heard the Hutt's booming laughter and saw him make a dismissive gesture with his hand as I took my leave, knowing better than lingering for any potential reason, especially with the trapdoor under my feet.

Turning on the spot, I quickly slide one of the cases under my coat before I stepped onwards, up the stairs of the Throne room before heading towards the exit as I held the case holding the gauntlet in one hand and kept going, passing dozens of guards of various races. Honestly, I was just glad that I had a rebreather installed into my armor, since I had been foolish enough to not seal my helmet properly the first time I came to this place, I still felt as though I could still smell the stink of those Gamorians. Quickly, I exited the place as the massive gate closed behind me, rumbling closed and sealing itself, barely missing me as I had been moments away from being crushed. I ignored that as I pushed onwards, towards my waiting transport as I glanced over it.

It was a Balutar-class swoop, a rather nice Speeder bike made by MandalMotors that I had taken a liking too due to it being robust, durable, fast, and more than durable enough to be used as cover in the middle of a firefight. I had even had a pair of light Blaster cannons added to the craft, mostly due to how I felt that such things were necessary for when I had chase down fleeing Bounties. With that thought, I quickly took both cases off and placed them on the maglocks located on the craft as I quickly preformed another Object Read on the craft, only to find myself surprised and curious as I found something outside of the norm.

A tracking device, specifically, an externally mounted one that had been placed on the inside of a exhaust on the underside of my craft, not really a problem for me, but definitely a surprise. For a moment, I considered removing it, but decided against it, if only due to the fact that I wanted to know who it was that was after me. With that in mind, I got on to the Swoop and took off, heading back for the Mos Eisley, though, I planned to take a longer route to deal with my stalker, mostly because I could feel the idiot following me.

Accelerating away, it was easy to detect the idiot that was following me, since he seemed to be relying heavily on his rather poor skills with the force to hide himself. Not only that, but See Aura seemed to have the added bonus of letting me see a person's outline through solid matter at a fairly decent distance, as such, I could make out his being and found myself grimacing in annoyance.

It was a Fallen Jedi.

The idiot's aura was dull, covered by the feeling of arrogance, hunger and a dark recklessness that seemed to have been driven to the core of his very being. His emotions ran wild and I could even feel his emotions running rampant through him, even from the distance that I was currently at as I noticed how the little shit seemed to have so little impulse control. Then again, that probably explained what was happening here.

The fucker had probably sensed my 'reward' in Jabba's collection, decided that he wanted it for himself and damned the consequences, he survived one, or more, attempts to get the gauntlet before Jabba had finally had enough and decided to get rid of it to deal with the pest. The only reason that I probably got it was simply because I was in the area and Jabba wanted to give me an incentive to stay with the Hutts, to make me just a bit more loyal to them and tie myself to them. I shook my head at that point even as I felt the connection in the back of my mind open, one that I had long since grown used to over the last month, though, I would admit that the bond was rather weak at this point, it was merely a matter of time before it got stronger.

 _'He seems rather determined to get that gauntlet, Master. Think he has any tricks up his sleave?'_ The words whispered through my mind, a cheerful voice that sounded distinctly female came through as I considered it before considering the idiot behind me before shaking my head.

 _'I have my doubts. Chances are that this idiot is either too far gone to be able to do much more than swing a Lightsaber, or he is just a random saber-monkey that was never really good with anything but the Lightsaber. Either way, I'm willing to bet that he'll be dead soon enough, and you'll be getting a nice meal rather soon.'_ I remarked back as I spoke to the Greater Runic weapon that I had been gifted by the being that I had, tentatively named as my ROB. The weapon itself, which had happily adopted the name Fafner, contained a rather disturbingly cheerful intelligence for a weapon that feasted on the souls of other beings, apparently growing stronger from eating them and using those souls as a means of recharging itself. Personally, I thought it was rather ironic that a Soul Drinker had such a personality.

 _'Thanks Master! You always give me the best gifts!'_ I heard the intelligence respond happily as I rolled my eyes at that.

It was just my luck.

Still, even as I did so, I drifted to one side of the canyon I was in as I pulled my Swoop to a stop even as I dismounted, shifting my weight slightly so as to make it easier for me to draw the Runic blade from the hidden sheath within my coat. The sheath was hidden around the front of the left side of my armored coat, hidden by the presence of a few recent armored plates that were on either side, both for added protection and to mask the new sword from being spotted. Still, I absently considered whether or not even worth drawing the potent weapon to deal with a saber-monkey, at least if my guess was right. Absently, I raised my right forearm as I looked at another recent addition to my armor before putting my arm back down. Glancing around, I saw nothing but high canyon walls, and a quick check showed that nothing was around the area for any detectable distance. I knew that I could be fooled, but such checks were rather quick and easy to do, plus they allowed me ensure my own privacy, at least for a time, before more things kicked off.

With that in mind, I slide to a stop as I dismounted my swoop and turned slightly, putting my Speeder bike out of the way as I saw the dust cloud being kicked up by the approaching Fallen Jedi as I shook my head. The idiot had no concept of stealth as I saw him coming a mile away. A thought later and I found my vision magnified to allow me to see the Fallen Jedi with ease, even to see his eyes hidden behind tinted lenses, though such things hardly mattered even as I saw the burning, caustic yellow colour of his eyes. It was more than enough for me to know that this fucker was well passed gone.

Still, I kept that to myself as I scanned over him, seeing that he was a Human male, wearing dark robes and armed only with his Lightsaber, arrogant, but it had probably been enough to deal with the occasional mook he ran across. Against a determined, equipped and well experienced Hunter, it was quite a bit less than effective.

As proven when, once he closed the distance, I decided to prove a point, even if only to myself, and snapped a shot off with one of my Laser-Pulse pistols. The shot impacted his Speeder Bike, Starhawk speeder bike, if I had to guess, burning through poorly maintained durasteel plating and punching a hole straight through the main engine block, damaging the small Repulsorlift engine enough that the system failed entirely. The bike hit the ground like a lead brick moving at speed, the Fallen Jedi being barely fast enough to react as he did a high jump, tucking into a ball and spiraling towards me before he landed on the ground. As he landed, I heard his Lightsaber snap into action, a burning red blade that hummed around him as he charged, a demented gleam in his eyes as he snapped to me.

With a Force enhanced body, I was pretty sure that he hoped to overpower me rather easily as he immediately went for an overhead swing to cut me down the middle, I paid it little mind as I drew Fafner and intercepted it with one hand as he pressed down even harder, doing very little to force me to move as he pulled back and went for another strike.

"The Gauntlet! Give it to me! Give it to me, you miserable Wretch! It's mine! My right by Birth!" He screamed at me, sounding almost hysterical as he kept attacking and attacking even as I intercepted each strike with apparent ease before I sighed under my helmet even as he continued to try and strike me with each exclamation.

"Just this once, I would have honestly loved not being attacked by some random idiot..." I muttered to myself as I decided it was time to go on the offensive. As he drew back for another overhead swing, his pattern of attack having become utterly predictable to a fault with utterly no skill involved, I acted. Swinging my Rune blade, I aimed for his wrists as I cut them off with ease as the Lightsaber left his grip, his hands now detached from his body as I saw a look of pain, hatred and shock cross his face for a moment before his head, too, was separated from his body. I didn't even give the body a second glance, the desert natives would deal with it, as I reached out and grabbed the Lightsaber from mid-air and went back to my Swoop, my head shaking in disappointment.

"Why me... Oh yeah... Because God enjoys watching us suffer..."

A bit melodramatic for my tastes, but it was a true, especially with the advent of my encounter with a ROB.

 **XXX**

AN: There goes another chapter. Hope you enjoyed. Until next time!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I own nothing, this is purely for recreational purposes.

AN: Ok, just a warning, but this is where things start to change and where the warning in the summary may start to apply.

Also, DahakStaz, I get what you are saying. I'm trying for that since each gift either won't be powerful by itself, will require work to become powerful, or, when it comes to people, will either require time for this skills to come into effect or they will be in a small enough group that their individual strength can only be applied to a limited number of places. If the latter is the case, then they would have to worry about the risk of being overrun by the sheer quantity of enemy forces. After all, the ROB is giving Drake access to a superior degree of quality, along with his own work, but that can only get you so far when your outnumbered a few thousand to one.

Also, as a side note, in Rifts, there is a company called 'Wilk's Laser Technologies, Inc.' One of their side products is called the Wilk's Laser Sword. It's powered by an Energy clip with a duration of 15 + 5D6 minutes of continuous use. Not to mention that Psionics have similar abilities, called Psi-sword and Psi-Shield, which do exactly what you would expect.

Just something to think about. Anyway, on with the story. Enjoy!

 **XXX**

Sliding into the cargo bay of the _Dakka Hunter_ , I allowed myself to relax as I placed my rewards down on a nearby table as a pair of A-63s quickly took my Swoop and placed it in storage, mostly for them to check over and maintain, though, they wouldn't need to worry about any trackers since I made a habit of removing them.

The latest one being an example, where I had dumped it on a Sand Crawler after killing the idiot that had tried to follow me.

"It is good to see that you are back, Michael." I heard as I took off my helmet. Looking up, I saw Avun standing above the Cargo bay, leaning against a railing and smiling slightly at me, glancing at her, it was easy to see how the last few months had changed her as I spotted her mechanical arms hidden under a layer of cleverly programmed nano-machines designed to replicate the feel, texture and warmth of real skin. Smiling, I turned fully to see the Chiss as she walked down the stairs to the main level.

"Did you expect anything less of me?" I asked jokingly as she approached, a sway in her gaunt that I had noticed, drawing my eyes away from her face, though her choice of clothing certainly didn't help in that respect. Recently, I had noticed that she had started wearing more revealing clothing, the perfect example being now, where she was wearing little more than the star wars equivalent of Denim Shorts and a grey tube top that left her stomach exposed and seemed to work to push her rather generous bust up and only make it more prominent to anyone watching her. Then again, it would have been prominent anyway with the way she moved, generally with a bounce in her step that did... _Interesting_ things to her autonomy.

In response to my joke, she smiled and offered a light chuckle as she continued to approach me, quickly moving around to stand beside me before I glanced over at her and got a good look at her while I saw a small smile playing across her features. I recognized it as her 'happy face', then again, had I not had some experience with Chiss expressions, or Avun's expressions, I would not have been able to tell and her face might as well have been made out of granite. Still, the expression she had on her face was enough for my eyebrow to rise.

"Someone's in a good mood today. Care to tell me what it is?" I asked curiously as she gave a light chuckle at that.

"Nothing important, just a decision I made while you were out. It relates to a few things that I want to talk with you later on when you've had a chance to relax. When you want to talk, just come and see me." She said, sounding rather cryptic as I saw a gleam in her eye that flashed through them too quickly for me to identify before she turned away, walking back up the stairs towards her room as I found my eyes drawn to her swinging ass. Absently, I wondered what her decision had been while another part of me considered if this might have been an effect of the Psynetics she had installed over the last month, though, I honestly had no way of knowing either way. Admittedly, I _had_ managed to improve the implants through the use of having them internally constructed by nano-machines as to reduce their size and make it less lightly for someone to become a Crazy. Then again, after installing a few of them, I had found out that Avun had developed a slight kleptomaniac streak when it came to random things that caught her interest, never any of my stuff, but certainly a fair amount of stuff in open markets that she managed to slip away with. Another implant had caused her to take an interest in the various concepts of death in different cultures while a third had made her, surprisingly, made it virtually impossible to mind control her, as Hypnotic Suggestions, Charms, Trances, Dominations and other such tricks seemed to fail utterly on her.

Still, casting a slightly worried glance over at the now closed door, I could only hope that such things didn't come with any other costs. I hadn't checked her for any damages recently, having been working to acquire more funds, but I knew that she had not suffered any form of brain damage, at least, nothing that would have hindered her in the future. However, I was still very much in the dark as to the extent of her augments, mostly because I didn't consider it to be any of my business along with it just being impolite to ask such things out of the blue.

I just hoped that, at the very least, the side effects on her wouldn't be anything dangerous to her, I had long since come to value her as a close friend and companion, I did not wish to lose her.

One near miss with those Jedi was more than enough!

 **XXX**

Avun smiled to herself as she walked through her door and lay down on her bed. Her smile didn't twitch once as she considered the last month and what it had done for her, specifically, what Michael had done for her.

Honestly, she knew that she owed Michael massively for allowing her to augment herself, and she knew that he was doing it out of some fear of losing a person that she considered a close friend, but she couldn't help but feel touched by it. Michael had gone out of his way to get her materials, to acquire funding to buy them, and to help her learn how to use her new abilities every step of the way, always offering support to her as she walked down the path she had chosen.

And the results were plain to see.

Her Bionic limbs had long been fully integrated; created, assembled and installed by the AI controlled surgical bed that Michael had made for her, something that she had had moved into her room a while ago, and something that worked to create her augments. A fair number of other augments were still to go in, but those could wait as she had learned to enjoy her new form, having had her bones enhanced with a process similar to what these 'Titan-Juicers' underwent along with having her muscles replaced with specially tailored Bio-system replacements, which had the added bonus of increasing her height to match Michael's own 2.1 metres. Sub-dermal armor was also present, along with dozens of self-repair systems, but those were just the start of the Hyperlane. However, one thing she had been careful with was her Psynetics, which had been installed shortly after her limbs had been replaced, followed soon by her stealth systems.

To say that her eyes had been opened would have been an understatement.

She looked around the world and saw how things could be changed, altered or twisted to let her wield _true_ power, rather than what those idiots back in the Ascendancy held, or those fools that cowered in their luxury suites on Coruscant. She saw how the Galaxy's power could be made her's, but she also saw how it could be altered and manipulated to allow Michael to stand supreme.

"Michael..." The Chiss breathed out as her smile turned into a full grin of anticipation. Avun had long since learned much about him and his abilities, she doubted that what he had told her was the full length and breadth of his abilities, but she knew a lot more than anyone else could dream of. Now, however, she considered how to pay him back for all his hospitality, generosity and trust, a few ideas had even come to mind as she glanced at one of her datapads, looking over the information for a moment to confirm how accurate it was, cross-referencing it with the information she had stored in the data crystal in her head before nodding to herself and putting that datapad down before picking up a different one.

On this one was one of her latest interests; The beliefs, outlooks and customs of various cultures regarding death. It had started as a flight of fancy that had then spread out into other aspects to cover autonomy, medical research and a dozen other fields, leading to her now knowing dozens of ways to kill just as many species with at least three times as many ways of making it either look like an accident, a biological condition or a disease of some kind. Truthfully, with those kinds of results, the Chiss had figured that keeping such an interest going could only aid her in the long run, especially as she also set aside time to practice with her new abilities granted to her via her new Psynetic implants.

A few hours passed as she skimmed over the holonet, going from looking at a breakdown of the Nine Corillian Hells to some of the more widely published beliefs of the Jedi, of becoming one with the Force. It was interesting, allowing her to review the psychology of those that she might fight, looking at their fears and what might work best against them, but she was interrupted from her study as she heard a knock on her door, drawing a smile from her as she put the datapad away.

"Come in." She spoke happily as she watched the doors open to reveal the former Super-soldier himself, wearing his usual trousers and top that seemed to stretch over his frame as she watched. Ruthlessly, she repressed her wants to either lick her lips or to jump him at that moment, wishing to gain his acceptance before even _considering_ such actions as she had no idea how he would react. Admittedly, she considered, she would think that he would react positively to what many would consider a beauty without equal jumping him.

"Hello, Michael, care to take a seat?" She asked as she made a gesture and the chair under her desk moved out, drawing a raised eyebrow from him even as she smiled at that, happy with her own improvements to her abilities as she sat up and turned around to watch him as he took a seat.

"Sure, since you're offering." He replied to her, a small, impressed smile slipping over his face as she felt her heart leap with joy at the sight before he leaned forwards to consider her.

"So... What is it you wanted to talk about?" He asked after a moment, pausing slightly as to question if she would fill in the blanks, Avun simply smiled as he elaborated more fully to him, leaning back and supporting herself with her hands, giving him an impressive view of her generous breasts and toned stomach.

"Well, Michael, I just wanted to say thank you for allowing me to stay this long on your ship, and I hope that I can continue to prove myself worthy of your trust and hospitality." She remarked first, getting a dismissive gesture from him.

"You're my friend, comrade, whatever you want to call it. Even if you leave, so long as you don't betray me, my door will always be open." He remarked simply with a shrug, unaware of how those words effected her as her heart leaped even further for joy while she had to physically suppress the need to both growl and flinch at the mere _suggestion_ of someone else or herself, respectively, betraying him. Instead, she managed to just nod to him as she looked at him with a hand cupping her chin as she leaned up a bit, sitting up with her legs crossed and her elbow resting on her legs.

"Still, I thank you for it, and I thank you for trusting me enough to share your past with, something I have yet to do with you. For that, I apologise." She remarked as, once again, he shrugged it off.

"I chose to tell you my past, you don't have to tell me anything you don't want me to share." She smiled at that, another show of respect from him that she felt touched by as she nodded.

"Even so, I feel that I should tell you a bit about how I ended up so far from the Ascendancy." She started as she uncrossed her legs, sitting up more fully and began to speak.

"Back in the Ascendancy, I worked for House Nuruodo, who primarily govern the military and foreign affairs of the Ascendancy. I worked primarily within what might be called a Special Operations unit, but wasn't quite, it is hard to be exact, as the Chiss equivalent of a true Special Operations unit is completely separate and independent of any form of chain of command and answers only to the highest position within the Ascendancy. What you called 'Force Recon' might be a more accurate term. Regardless, during one of my enlistments, I and my platoon discovered a Vagaari outpost and staging area along our boarders which we believed was going to be used for the use of raids against the Ascendancy. We saw it, made a recommendation to launch a pre-emptive strike upon the outpost, something of an uncommon idea in the Chiss military since we normally prefer to remain on the defensive unless attacked first, but it happens. We reported back to our superiors, but they rejected our recommendation." Avun snarled, old rage coming to the surface as she tightened her grip, as though she was going to squeeze blood from a stone before taking a moment to calm herself down.

"Two days later, we decided that something had to be done, our own experience telling us all that leaving such a location intact would only serve to embolden the Vagaari into either building more such outposts, or attacking sooner than they had originally planned. We stole a ship and a number of supplies before making our way back to the planet, where we infiltrated the complex and set charges to destroy it utterly. Our entrance was clean, we remained undetected throughout our task, but we were detected on our way out. A firefight followed where almost the entire garrison of the base rushed to attack us, forcing us to carrying out a fighting retreat. However, by the time we got back to the ship, only myself and another had survived, and he died on that ship less than a few hours after we left the planet, his injuries being too much for him. An hour after that, the charges detonated, destroying the complex and leaving only rubble. We had completed our objective, but at a high cost..." Avun remarked as she glanced to the side sadly, lost in the memory of her former friends.

"I made my way back to Ascendancy space, but was intercepted on the way back by the Defense Forces. They had orders to give me a choice, either to continue, and be declared a hostile target, and to be fired upon, or to leave, to become an exile from Chiss space. So I left..." Avun finished as Michael looked at her, she noted respect and admiration in his gaze, making her feel warm at it while he slide a bit closer to her, gently placing a hand on her shoulder and offering it a comforting squeeze as she cherished the contact between them.

"You made the right call. You and your comrades, even if those idiots will never truly appreciate it." The Super-soldier remarked, causing all her past regrets about it to simply disappear as she heard him say that, seemingly washing away the guilt of surviving where others hadn't. She nodded at that, happy that he accepted what she had done, complimenting her for even going so far to carry out her duty, something that only drew her to him more.

"Thank you, Michael, but that wasn't the only thing I wanted to talk with you about. Still, thank you for agreeing with what I... What _we_ had believed was right." Avun spoke happily to him, while doing so, a thought caused her bionics to react, a metal tendril slipping through the nanite skin on her right bicep and picking up the original datapad that she had checked over before Michael had arrived. Slipping the tendril around it, Avun quickly turned it over and presented it to Michael, who took it with a raised eyebrow as she simply smiled at him before he turned to regard the datapad itself.

"While you've been gone, doing Bounties to acquire funds and materials to continue my augmentation, I've also been looking into possible situations that your PMC could deal with if the situations develop as I imagine they will. Not only that, but I've been looking for promising candidates to recruit for you to use as a starting force from which to grow. Unfortunately, I've only managed to find a few dozen, 21 at most, but I believe that you could easily recruit more from the lower classes of people across the Outer Rim." She remarked as she watched Michael nod absently as he seemed to be thoroughly engrossed by what information she had presented on the pad as she smiled before even as she slowly slipped the still-extended tendril out, wrapping around the base of the pad as she slide forwards slightly on the bed as another tendril extended outwards, grasping Michael's chair and getting ready to pull it just a bit closer.

As she got ready, she saw Michael stop, as she expected him to as he seemed to come to the last recruit on the list she had assembled: Herself.

"I thought you would have wanted to stay independent once I founded this group? Why are you throwing your hat in with me? It's not like you have to or anything, but I'm just curious." He asked as he glanced up, just as she pulled with both tendrils, having seen her chance to act. The datapad was suddenly yanked out of his grasp while the Office chair was pulled closer to the bed as she smoothly slide over him, straddling his waist as both arms slipped over his shoulders and around his neck, one of them grasping the back of his head as she pulled Michael closer towards herself even as she moved closer in turn. Quickly, she pushed her own body against his, pressing her breasts into his body as she subtly started increasing their size as she tried to have as much of her body in contact with Michael's. However, even as she did this, she slammed her lips into his, her eyes closed to better savor the experience as she forced her tongue into his mouth, spiraling it around her mouth as she traced over his own tongue.

Michael was so shocked by this turn of events that he didn't even try and resist as a pair of tendrils exited her back, crossing each other's paths before pulling Michael's arms around her own body, securing them lightly even as she started grinding her dampened core against him.

Avun kept them like that for three, glorious, minutes as she savored everything about the experience to memory, making a thorough backup copy of the moment in the data crystal within her brain before she finally pulled back, releasing her hold on the still shell-shocked man with a trail of saliva still linking their lips as she licked it up with a teasing grin to her face.

"I think... That the reason I'm staying, should be rather obvious..." She remarked with a sultry tone, drawing a reaction from Michael as he looked at her with a flat look, causing her to giggle happily.

She could already tell that she had made the right choice.

 **XXX**

"Damn..." I muttered as I looked at the object in front of me. The black gauntlet I had been given to me by Jabba as a means of getting rid of a pest that had been bothering him, but the device proved to be _so_ much more than a highly decorated piece of armor. A quick Object Read had proved as much, as I suddenly found myself with a complete, and highly complex history regarding the device, which had actually been revealed to be some kind of Force Amplification device of significant power. Not only that, but it also worked as a storage device, in much the same way as a Holocron without a gatekeeper, to hold a number of interesting things. Admittedly, I couldn't access the information directly, mainly due to the fact that I, apparently, lacked any midi-chlorians, as in I had zero, so I had been forced to use indirect methods that came from reviewing the entire history of the device.

Regardless, it had proven to be a literal treasure trove of information on things from the era of the Old Republic during the Great War some four thousand years previous, something that I found immensely useful as I saw what one could consider the military peak of the Galaxy, both in terms of weapons technology and military tactics as things seemed to spiral down from that point, peaking a few more times, but never truly as high again. I especially enjoyed the fact that the perspective was given from the view of the Sith of the time, something that served me rather well since I found the Sith, at least those that had a grasp of part of their sanity and weren't consumed by the Dark Side, to be the more favorable of the two. Hell, I had even learned the name of the Sith that had created the gauntlet, a Dark Lady of the Sith, member of the Dark Council, Outlander and Empress of the Eternal Empire before it, apparently, was destroyed along with what remained of the Sith in a surprise attack by a rebuilt Republic Navy.

Darth Nox.

Still, as I leaned back in my chair, absorbing the information that swam through my mind, I considered other matters, such as Avun's confession of apparently falling in love with me, something that I had been rather oblivious to as, while I had always thought of her as being beautiful, smart and perceptive, I hadn't thought that she considered me in that kind of light. Three months had passed since that point, and to call Avun affectionate would have been an understatement as she seemed to enjoy pressing as much of her body as possible towards my own body, as though she was always trying to mold herself to the contours of my body. Of course, her passes at seducing me even further were helped along by her limited shape-shifting abilities, not to mention her implanted Psionic abilities, which allowed her to change her appearance to virtually anything one could care to imagine. It made it difficult to even know what to expect from her, especially when she started getting... _Creative_...

However, throughout the whole thing, I couldn't help feeling awkward and hesitant to return said affection, unsure as to what was causing it. I didn't know whether this was really Avun or the implants, something that, even after investigating, I was still unsure of, especially given how long she had had those implants.

Still, other events had taken place over those three months. For one thing, I had decided to change ships to a Gozanti-class Cruiser, which I had named _Raptor_ , that I had bought rather cheaply from a Twi'lek on Rodia after a job, but the ship worked well for my purposes. Upgrading it was of little trouble until it had a decent sublight speed and was better armored with layers of M.D.C armor plating under it, not only that, but I had even found a few of the technologies used for space combat within the Rifts universe, and had applied them. These came in the form of Variable Force Field system, among other things, that, while weak by Rifts standards, were still potent enough as to block most Star Wars weapons that were mounted on ships, at least, from a singular attacker.

Aside from that, I had increased the number of robots I had working for me, now, I had around 75 A-63 All-Purpose Robots; twenty A-64 All Purpose Masters; 25 M-1400 Tigers and 21 AA-60 Hunter-Destroyers, with a few other models thrown in for other purposes, but those were the main ones that I had come to rely upon. And, lastly, I had given Avun a suit of Power Armor for her own use, a suit of Glitter Boy No.7 armor that, while it lacked the infamous Boom Gun, made up for it with three different laser weapons and a Gravity Railgun that I had given her. The entire thing lacked the usual laser-reflective armor, mostly because that made it stand out too much for my tastes, but the armor had been coloured a dull white with an adaptive camouflage option to allow her to disappear in a moment's notice.

Avun had been beyond excited for it, having thanked me profusely in between covering my face with enough lipstick to make people confuse me with a Zeltron.

Then again, I had enjoyed it and left the cargo bay grinning like a loon at seeing her bouncing all over the place as she examined her new armor and went over the technical guide I had left her, something that she had memorized within a few hours, at best. Either that, or downloaded straight into her brain like she had done with a few dozen modified Droid Protocols to give her additional skills that were only possible due to her augmentations. Still, even with everything, I still kept a lookout for any more side effects from her Psynetic implants, but only saw a slight fascination with death and her left armor going stiff for a few moments every few weeks, but it didn't go limp or anything. At this point, I was rather tempted to call off my observations and just say that she hadn't suffered anything else beyond that and her kleptomania, there was honestly little else that I had noted. Not only that, but Avun happily told me when I asked that, while Chiss _could_ put up a highly stoic appearance to those they didn't know, they were apparently much more open with those that they either knew well enough, or knew intimately and trusted greatly.

Sighing as I shook myself out of my thoughts, I stood and turned to look at my own suit of power armor, my Hell Talon, as I had come to call it. Smiling, I decided that it might have been past time for a few upgrades...

 **XXX**

"You want us to _what!?_ " I couldn't help but ask as I looked at Avun as she smiled happily from her place in the Bridge, leaning happily against one of the consoles, her arms crossed under her breasts as she wore the tube top and shorts that had long since become her normal attire, at least in private.

"I found us a job that I believe would pay well and serve equally well for building up a reasonably potent reputation. Aside from that, it will also work to allow your PMC to gather more potential recruits after a demonstration of what you are capable of. Think of it like free advertising." Avun remarked simply, her smile still in place as I gave her a flat stare at that.

" _That_ was not what I was asking." I growled out as she giggled at me for it even as she nodded.

"I know. As for what you were saying earlier, the job itself is rather simple. We are to travel to Mustafar and deal with a group of Mustafarians that have been causing trouble for the Techno Union, their instructions were rather open to interpretation, but they just said to 'deal with them'." Avun offered with a shrug as I considered it after taking a calming breath. Honestly, the job wasn't all that bad, with good pay and a decent incentive to do it. Still, what got me was the fact that the Techno Union had come to us in the first place. While me and Avun were semi-big names in some circles, my PMC was still gathering itself up, mostly in that we were still gathering forces, equipping them and organizing ourselves into a proper, effective combat-capable force. Still, that hadn't stopped Avun from spreading the name 'Sicarius Inc.' far and wide through the holonet, specifically, through the deep, darker networks of the holonet that were virtually impossible to find unless you knew what to look for, or someone who did.

"... Alright, fine. We'll accept the job, but I want you looking for potential recruits once we complete it. We're going to be arriving on Nar Shaddaa soon, so you can use that as a starting point to look for anyone interesting in the work. However, if you recruit them, I want you to be in charge of training them up to the proper standards and instilling some measure of discipline into them since I don't want any gun-ho idiots under my command. Got it?" I commanded as she merely nodded, that little smile staying in place as she smiled rather happily at my words before getting up from the console she had been leaning on and making to walk passed me, only to stop and steal a quick kiss on the way out as she leaned into my ear.

"As you command it, so shall it be done." She said teasingly as I felt her hot breath tickle my skin before watching her walk out of the room, putting an extra bit of sway into her walk, though, 'walk' might have been the wrong words since, after getting augmented, she no longer walked anywhere. She stalked.

Even as I watched her go, I couldn't help feeling conflicted on the whether or not to enjoy the sight, especially with the little voice at the back of my head saying that I had changed her with those implants. Something I honestly had no idea about since I had worked pretty damned hard to ensure that the side effects would be negated or reduced, at the very least.

Still, with my luck, I was willing to bet that Avun would come back to the ship with one of three things: Either she would come back with a massive pile of corpses, a bunch of pissed off Hutt enforcers, or a bunch of eager recruits that had unknowingly signed over their lives in contracts that Avun had created to effectively turn them into slaves in all but name.

And, out of all of those, the only thing I really felt was annoyance at two of those options and I was rather apathetic to the third as I'd need to clear away the corpses or fast-talk the enforcers, but if a bunch of idiots didn't read the fine print, then that was hardly my fault.

At the very least, they would be getting paid, getting three meals a day and would be taken care of in exchange for working as soldiers. I would have thought that it would have been a rather good deal, especially for some of the idiots that ran around Nar Shaddaa, even more so once you got to the deeper levels of the city-moon.

 **XXX**

Avun smiled as she walked through the streets of Nar Shaddaa, her form hidden by a large cloak while she wore armor that Michael had gifted her, said armor looked effectively the same as her old one, but with even more technology grafted into it. Adaptive camouflage systems, a personal Shield, a self-repair system, a strength enhancement system and a few dozen other things that simply made her armor even better, even allowing it to interface with her more fully, either through her implanted Telemechanic ability or through her headjacks. Either way, she enjoyed it greatly and cherished it even more, seeing every gift from him as something that needed to be taken great care of, even if they were meant for battle. The massive suit of Power armor that she had been given being another example, something that she was saving for the operation on Mustafar, or elsewhere due to wanting to see how the armor would do under combat conditions.

Then again, given what she had already seen of Michael's technology, she doubted that it would be anything less than impressive.

Still, moving her mind away from such things, she glanced around as she tried to find what she was looking for before she felt it, a smirk crossing her lips as she took a turn and walked down a side passage, through the deepest levels of Nar Shaddaa. A few moments later, she found what she was looking for as she turned another corner and found an abandoned warehouse that was full of people that looked like they were practically dead on their feet. Looking at them, she could see it, most were either Rookie Bounty Hunters, former Smugglers, gamblers or something else before something happened, leaving them down on their luck and with nowhere to go, no one to turn to as they ended up being forced to live like this.

Avun had seen a dozen places like this across Nar Shaddaa in her time among the wider Galaxy, and even more off of Nar Shaddaa, and she thought they would work well for what she had been tasked to do. Glancing around, she saw a few that were laying around the outskirts of the main group and smiled as she slipped into the warehouse itself, sticking to the shadows as she moved to ensure that none saw her even as she grew closer to them.

"I take it that you live here?" She asked suddenly as she crouched down behind a Human woman, her clothes being little more than dirty rags while her skin was covered in more dirt. The Human jumped in surprise and made to shout, but Avun bet her to it.

"No need to shout and scream, I'm just here to talk. You might want to hear what I have to say, especially since I might be able to get you and a few others out of this state, right?" Avun spoke in a low, smooth tone, carrying with it a Hypnotic Suggestion that seemed to take effect immediately as the Chiss smiled at that, their willpower and mentality probably being at an all time low after living like this for any length of time.

"Y-yeah, sure. Let's hear what you've gotta say?" She said back, her voice noticeably quieter as Avun smiled under her helmet at that.

"Good. Now, I want you to know that I've come to represent a new company that is starting up and wishes to start recruiting. If you join, and sign the proper contracts, you'll be required to undergo training to fulfill the role, but in exchange for your service, this training and a few other things, you'll get room and board supplied, three meals a day and a steady pay. Interested?" Avun asked as she saw the Human's expression practically light up at the idea of getting out of her current state, an eager look quickly covered her face at the prospect as Avun smirked smugly behind her helmet.

It was almost too easy.

"Where do I sign up?" The Human asked eagerly, sitting up straighter as she fully turned to look at the armored Chiss.

"I'll get a contract to you in a short while, but I need your help to find others to recruit first. My employer wants a certain number for the first recruitment and I've got to meet that. So, you mind telling me who else might be interested, and what kind of skills they have already? For that matter, what kind of skills do you have?" Avun asked, keeping a steady Hypnotic Suggestion going in her voice as the Human smiled happily as she started speaking, going into great detail about all she knew, even telling the Chiss about a dozen people that she could find scattered in other areas of Nar Shaddaa that had skills that ranged from former Smugglers, Starship Mechanics, Bodyguards, Cartel Enforcers and dozens of other walks of life before the Human was finally finished.

"Do you want to know anything else?" The Human asked as she finished a few moments later, her face covered by a wide smile, her eyes gleaming with anticipation as Avun shook her head, still smug at how utterly she had taken control of this woman, but decided that she wanted more as she felt the urge grow.

"No, that will be all for the time being. Though, I believe I can say that you will get the job, won't you? That you will happily serve in the company I represent, won't you? That you will obey any and all commands that I, or my employer give you, with a smile on your face and joy in your heart, won't you? That you will do your very best to see those commands carried out to the best of your ability, irrespective of what they might be, and you shall enjoy doing it as it is your purpose to serve, isn't it?" Avun asked smoothly, her voice carrying an almost hypnotic tone to it as she saw the Human being drawn further and further in as Avun felt the exhilaration at having power over her, it was like a high that she wanted to feel again even as the Human nodded with a beaming smile on her face.

"Yes, I'll take the job... I'll serve the company and obey whatever you or your boss have to say... Anything you want, I'll do... It'll be my pleasure to do it..." The Human said back, her smile turning into a look of pure joy at the prospect while Avun merely nodded, running an armored hand over the Human's head, patting it affectionately as the Chiss chuckled.

"Good. Now, here is what I want you to do..."

With that, Avun started her work as she started ordering the woman where to go and wait for her to return with the first lot of recruits. It was a warehouse that had been rented for the time being, a rather small place while Michael looked into buying a second ship that could be used as a mobile training centre and HQ for Sicarius Inc. Still, even while he worked on that, she knew that he was also working to make armored uniforms, weapons and the proper weapons and armor that the PMC would require.

In return, Avun would make sure that she produced soldiers worthy of using such gifts...

Through whatever means necessary...

 **XXX**

I frowned as I looked over the details of the newest purchase I had made, in truth, it was something I considered a good idea, but I wondered if it had to be made so soon. Then again, if I wanted to get started, I knew I had to start somewhere, and I didn't trust the locals to set up a training camp on any planet before it was infiltrated by Sith, Jedi, Hutts or the Black Suns, or any other force that one could care to name. Still, I wondered if I had made the right choice in vessel when I had decided to buy an A-class Bulk Freighter for the job.

The ship was big, solid and, with a few modifications, would be a difficult nut to crack once it was crewed by a mix of robots and trained recruits. Much of the work could easily be done in space after depressurizing the ship and cutting it open, asteroids could be mined for resources while more robots could work to integrate weapons, armor and Variable Force Fields into it. The main things being weapons augmented by SW tech, since I had found the use of such things could massively increase the range of space-based weapons. Still, even then, I would need to come up with training programs, simulator systems and dozens of other things, including the creation of a working logistical network, a single command structure and more. Then again, I was of the opinion that having a unit of soldiers being self-sufficient was probably a good idea, especially in the case that most energy-based weapons I knew of could have their power cells recharged after use. The same could be said about Blaster power packs, but they still needed other ammo to function, a bit of a hassle during battle since they had to worry about two different kinds of ammo.

For armor, I was thinking of using an aesthetic similar to the Sith Troopers during the Jedi Civil War, though, I decided to go with a dark grey instead of silver for the main colour scheme, since it would make them stand out less. The armor was going to have the same, or similar, features to the Standard NEMA armor worn during Chaos Earth or the Dead Boy armor used by the grunts of the CS in Rifts. Basically, the armor was going to be equipped with sheets of M.D armor plating, capable of shrugging off most forms of S.D.C weapon's fire such as unaugmented bullets from the slugthrowers of this verse while Blasters would only prove to be an irritation, effectively meaning that the only way to crack them open would be with Anti-armor weapons. Air filters, an extensive life-support system and a built in rebreather would allow the wearer to survive in most environments while a nutrient solution would provide enough nutrients, protein and vitamins to allow them to survive for two weeks. Environmental seals would allow the user to go on spacewalks, aided by mag-boots and further helped by carefully hidden thrusters for use in zero-g while a grappling hook system would be present in either forearm. Communication would be handled by a dedicated dumb AI that could encrypt radio signals and bounce them from person to person while a Laser communication system could be used to aid in more covert operations. Not only that, but the armor had a modular design with mag-clamps to allow for various attachments to be added on a per-mission basis, or due to personal preference. Lastly, I fully planned to have a miniature exoskeleton built into the armor, allowing the users to move faster, have more endurance and have greater strength when it was needed.

Coming up with proper armor designs only took me about three hours, coming up with a selection of weapons only took me an hour since I was just writing a list of which ones I liked best and which had the best potential for upgrades. Power Armor, Combat Robots, vehicles and spaceships, however, were things that I would have to consider further down the line, especially since I knew what was coming.

Leaning back in my chair inside the _Raptor_ , I considered other ideas I had once had before I discarded them. One such idea was to simply create a company and use it as a means of distributing the tech, but I threw that idea away because I wouldn't have control over how the tech was used, and I shuddered to think about the hell it would unleash in the hands of the Sith of the current era. Another idea was to keep it to myself, seclude myself and big in, but that was discarded as well, especially when it meant that I had no backup if anyone came hunting for my tech, not only that, but it meant I would have no support if I wanted to survive what was to come. So, I went with this option, where I could create it, create a support network for myself, and decide who used it through ensuring that only those within my PMC had access to the tech.

Sighing to myself, I ran a hand through my hair as I leaned back up, looking at the piles of datapads that were covering the table I had set up within my room of the ship. Mentally, I considered whether or nor all of this would be worth it as I considered the alternatives, of the Empire, the Vong, the lost tribe of Sith, the One Sith and a dozen other threats that I knew were coming. Sighing once more, I grabbed another datapad, this one covering information about the upcoming job on Mustafar, as I felt a sardonic smile cover my lips.

"The only easy day was yesterday." I muttered to myself as I started going over the research information I still had about a month and a half, but I figured that the sooner I learned it all and knew it inside out, the better off I would be for when it finally came time to carry out the job.

 **XXX**

Avun smiled to herself as she looked around the vast cargo bay of the _Drill Sergeant_. All around, she saw dozens of people running through combat drills, running obstacle courses and doing other things as some were also working on vehicle or Power armor simulators, others were working on firing ranges and a few others were even working on what appeared to be more advanced things such as limited work with what little about this mysterious 'Chi' magic that came from Michael's homeworld. Honestly, at this point, she was willing to accept that anything was possible on that strange world, wherever it was, Magic just being the latest thing that she had learned about, even if she was limited in her own abilities with it. Still, she had long since found out that she could still use certain magical items, which was fine with her once she got them made by a few of the eager-to-please recruits below her.

Another glance down as she looked at the gathered recruits, almost four hundred people in the single room, divided into separate groups and areas by thin walls that they cycled through while what few walls that had been present had been removed to allow for the massive room to exist. The recruits themselves were all wearing basic clothing, T-shirts, combat trousers and boots that were made for them to work in, along with a few spares for each day. The training was harsh, vigorous and not the least bit brutal, but it had already proven itself to work wonders, especially when combined with her alterations to each, and every single recruit.

Her alterations were small things, usually in the form of engrained Hypnotic Suggestions that had been branded on to their brains, assisted by a Controller Chip that encouraged loyalty to Sicarius, loyalty to her and extreme loyalty to Michael while also working to discourage anything that could be considered as being disloyal to any of those. Even after only a single month, the results of it were already bearing extremely generous and impressive fruit as she saw that each recruit was undyingly loyal to her and Michael, even though they had never met him and only seen images of him that she had provided. Not only that, but her work had seen to it that these forces wouldn't _just_ be like every other army out there, rather, they would be so much better.

Every recruit, so far, had been augmented through the use of an Auto-Medic system to give them greater bone and muscle density, along with a slight tweak to their nervous system in order to increase their reaction times. This change had already seen dramatic effects as the recruits had seen a significant increase in strength and durability while their speed had also becoming just a bit better, further augments to increase the efficiency of their internal organs also saw them improving even further as Avun worked to create what she considered to be the perfect army for Michael.

Licking her lips as she looked down, she envisioned the future.

She saw dozens of worlds falling to an army that none could match, augmented with technologies never before seen, of entire sectors surrendering and yielding to this force and swearing their loyalty to Michael, of the Galaxy under one rule, obeying his commands as she stood by his side. She shuddered as a pleasant shill ran up and down her spine as she thought of it, arousal building in her at the idea of that much power in her hands, growing even more potent as she considered Michael standing just that much higher than her, of commanding her.

She smiled at the dream, the vision of the future.

She fully expected it to happen, it was only a matter of time.

And time, was something that both she and Michael had in Freighter loads.

 **XXX**


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I own nothing, this is purely for recreational purposes.

AN: Here is the next chapter, bit more action in it than the last chapter, however, before I begin, let me say this.

 **RoyalTwinFangs** : I haven't decided one on which side he would support, if any, but you aren't wrong with it looking most likely that he'll support the CIS. However, I'm still looking between either that, or another two options of being hired by a group of planets that want to stay neutral or simply staking a claim and defending it while staying out of it. Which will probably result in Drake being yanked into it for no other reason than because he is a threat to both sides.

 **DahakStaz** : Thanks for the idea, though, I do have a few ideas planned out, none of them are like that since, for one thing, regardless of how strong a Hypnotic Suggestion is, it still wears off after a given amount of time. Not to mention that Drake or Avun running around Kamino would be pretty noticeable. Still, I'll give it some thought, but no promises either way.

Anyway, on with the story.

 **XXX**

I was honestly glad that I was wearing my full armor, because the moment that I stepped out of my ship and into the open air of Mustafar, I noted that my sensors detected a rapid increase in the surrounding temperature along with heavy amounts of harmful chemicals in the air. Sure, I had already upgraded myself to prevent it from being a problem, but that didn't mean that it wouldn't be annoying to deal with, even if I _was_ in full armor at the moment. Looking around the landing pad, I quickly spotted an approaching representative of the Techno Union approaching me, a routine of OOM-Series Battle Droids surrounding the representative as I watched him coming over, noting with a bit of interest that it was a Skakoan.

"Interesting. You [fzzt] Are ahead of schedule. Why are you [fzzt] here so early, [fzzt], Bounty Hunter?" Came the voice of the Skakoan, interrupted every now and then by the sound of static before the representative made some adjustment to the controls around his collar as I waited for him to finish.

"I wished to arrive early and conduct a survey of the area where I'm to be operating, along with looking into the Intel you gave me to work with, double checking it and gathering a few more bits." I remarked as the Skakoan seemed to glare at me.

"I can [fzzt] assure you. All the [fzzt] information you were sent is [fzzt] accurate." He snapped as I nodded.

"I have little doubt of that, but I've learned that information can become outdated remarkably quickly, especially in these kinds of situations. Not only that, but I wished to ask you, or request that you ask one of your superiors, a few questions. Would this be acceptable?" I asked as I saw the Skakoan calm down a bit and nod in understanding, now knowing that I hadn't meant anything by what I said, merely playing it off as being professional.

"If it is possible [fzzt], I might be [fzzt] able to [fzzt] answers you questions. It [fzzt] depends, what are you interested in [fzzt] knowing?" The representative asked back as I smiled under my armor at that.

"Perhaps we should continue this inside, as I'm sure this will be a lengthy discussion." I stated as the Rep nodded in turn, turning on the spot before moving back towards the mining complex that I assumed he controlled. Following him, I glanced around, taking the measure of the place as my sensors recorded everything that was around me, I was mostly interested in what kind of building style I was looking at, how reinforced I should expect things to be and just how the place was laid out in general. I already had the complete floor plans of where I was going for the job, but I felt that such a thing was only good for the original base, assuming that nothing had changed in the last few weeks.

Eventually, we came to a door that lead us into a large office that looked out of the building, into the constantly shifting volcanic hellscape of Mustafar. The Skakoan took a seat behind the large desk while I, in turn, took the seat opposite him as I nodded to him.

"What [fzzt] questions do you have?" He asked, clasping his hands before him as I nodded to myself at that.

"Firstly, I wanted to know about the facility and the mission parametres you've given me. Mainly, I want to know what kind of condition you want the facility in after I'm done with it, along with what you would like me to do with the... _Insurgents_?" I asked, emphasizing a few words to get the point across as the Skakoan didn't seem to react, but his next words told me that he knew exactly what I was talking about.

"The facility that the [fzzt] _Insurgents_ will be meeting at [fzzt], which we specified in [fzzt] your job request, was [fzzt] a tertiary mining [fzzt] installation, one that [fzzt] was due to be [fzzt] decommissioned before the _Insurgents_ [fzzt] took it with [fzzt] force. Even if you [fzzt] managed to take it [fzzt] back without damage, [fzzt] it would just be demolished." The Rep stated as I smiled at that, understanding what he was saying as I had just been given a blank check to go wild with the damage I caused.

"As for what we want done with the [fzzt] Insurgents. The [fzzt] Techno Union, is of the [fzzt] opinion that leaving such [fzzt] disruptive elements at large [fzzt] would only serve to be a net [fzzt] drain on our resources. Like the installation, [fzzt] do with them [fzzt] as you wish." I smiled at that, nodding in turn as I leaned back into the chair. I nodded at that as I thought about the options that opened up before I leaned back forwards, leaning towards the Rep as I gave him my full attention, especially since I wanted to hear what else was said as I began more in-depth discussion.

Three hours, I walked out of the office in a far better mood, having developed a rather healthy respect for the Rep, for being one of the few Corporate idiots that actually had a sense of pragmatism to him, making him one of my favorites to date.

Still, with that done, I decided that it was time to get down to the brass tacts of the matter.

I had a job to do.

 **XXX**

Standing on top of a stable cliff edge, I looked down at the facility that I was to attack. It was nothing fancy, standard Mustafarian design with a base built into a cliff-face while the place had two piers extending out from the facility, repulsorlift devices working to help keep it in place while more advanced shielding systems protected it from lava surges. A week and a half had been more than enough time for me to gain accurate info on the area, along with the changes that the insurgents had carried out on the base. Mainly, they had reinforced the foundations, added additional, redundant Repulsorlift systems while also adding more armor to the exterior of the facility. Along with that, they had also excavated a large cavern system behind the installation to act as both storage and living space, mainly hidden through a rather impressive, if low tech, jamming system.

I made a note to look over that tech and try to recreate it if I got the chance.

A quick scan, with the Jamming countered, showed a little over a few thousand beings inside the base, all of them having been pegged as supporters of the movement I had been hired to remove. I smiled sardonically at that. The Techno Union truly had played the locals rather well, effectively giving them some of the less advanced technologies in exchange for the mined ores, ores which, by the way, were worth several times as much as the technologies that the Mustafarians were getting. Only this group had even bothered to call the Techno Union out on it, something that hadn't happened in any other group since they were happy with the current status quo and saw no reason to rock the boat.

These idiots wanted to rock the boat, the Techno Union wanted me to show them what happened when the boat rocked back.

With that in mind, I looked over my network, checking my forces as I readied myself, my suit of Hell Talon armor was fully functional, upgrades having taken place and allowed me to improve it to the current level as I looked down once more, mentally considering what to do as I scanned through a list of options. I looked over my forces; a hundred A-63 All-Purpose Robots, fifteen A-64 All Purpose Masters, thirty M-1400 Tigers and 25 AA-60 Hunter-Destroyers, not the entire amount of combat robots I had under my control, but it was enough that I felt confident in what I was about to do. The main reason being that, even with the idiots having an advantage in raw numbers, they had failed to factor two things into the equation.

One; they had very few actual weapons, a few blasters stolen from the battle droids used by the Union and some metal sticks that served as ad-hoc weapons, but little else. And two, they assumed that the Union wouldn't attack them since it would only draw hatred from the rest of the planet, something that they overestimated since the average Mustafarian was indifferent to their cause, thanks to the information control of the Union.

As such, I had little to fear when I gave my command to my forces.

"Attack. No survivors." I commanded as the machines got to work as soon as the order came down. Looking around, I saw that most of the machines, if they needed weapons, were armored with reproduced Republican weapons, mainly Laser or Plasma weapons, though I did see a few with Particle rifles. For the machines, most of them simply jumped off the cliff and feel to the facility below, a distance of some three hundred metres, a fair fall, but something that was less of a problem for them when compared to organic beings. A-64 Masters didn't bother jumping, instead, using their spider-like legs to easily scale the cliff face, firing their chest-mounted Ion Cannons and wrist mounted Lasers all the way down. AA-60 Hunter-Destroyers and the M-1400 Tigers hadn't bothered grabbing any weapons for themselves, simply jumping into the fray with their built in weapons. The Tigers were actually the first ones into the fight, shortly followed by the Hunter-Destroyers that were a close second.

Honestly, I felt a bitter smile come over my face, I needed the kickstart this job offered to open the door to other contracts, but that didn't mean I had to enjoy it. This was especially true since I knew that the Mustafarians stood not even a snowball's chance in any of the Nine Corellian Hells. Tigers reached their outer guards and gutted them, swinging Vibro-blade equipped claws at speeds that unaugmented organic beings simply weren't capable of reacting too. Head mounted Lasers burned holes in the environmental armor of the Northern and Southern Mustafarians, turning them into little more than burnt corpses even as the machines carried onwards, I had ordered them not to bother with their Mini-missiles, especially since they were being kept in reserve for any ships or vehicles that the insurgents might have had. The Hunter-Destroyers couldn't keep up with the Tigers, but that hardly mattered as they moved around, blasting open doors with twin-Plasma Cannons before slamming into any resistance they encountered, followed by a few dozen A-63s that had gathered around them while A-64s worked to command the large group of machines as they rapidly forced their way into the facility.

Sighing to myself, I jumped off the cliff as well, taking to the air as I considered what to do as I headed towards the facility, a large container having been attached to my thigh, holding two rather important objects as I landed, having cut off my flight system a few dozen metres from the ground of the base before moving onwards. Around me, I saw dozens of corpses, Mustafarians that had had their armor either cut, blasted or burned through, something I doubted that they expected, especially since, against normal blasters, they offered a reasonable amount of protection. Still, against the weapons I had given my robots, they might as well have been wearing toilet paper, _wet_ toilet paper at that.

Shaking my head with a sardonic smile at the though, I ignored it as I drew my Particle Assault cannon before advancing into the facility, following the sounds of fighting before I quickly found the frontline and smirked. It was as I expected it to be, against a superior force, with better weapons and technology, and in such close quarters, the Mustafarians had no hope of victory, their exits having been cut off took quickly for them to escape by rampaging Tigers. Still, I figured that I might as well stretch my legs on this, having figured that simply standing back and doing nothing wouldn't have been a good way to use my time.

With that, and a quick leap assisted by the Repulsorlift/Anti-grav hybrid systems I had built into my armor, I was among the thick of the fighting within a moment, Vibro-blades extending from my free hand within a moment as I cut through the first three Mustafarians with a single slash, my shoulder turret still retracted and flush against my back, as I brought my Assault Cannon to bear. A quick pull of the trigger and a decent sized hole was carved through the lines of resistance that my forces faced, turned into little more than stray atoms and molecules as I smiled. A moment later and I was back into the thick of it.

Honestly, doing this job made me feel like I was kicking a three-legged, crippled puppy, but I had learned to accept that feeling long ago, every Bounty I had carried out felt like that, so I learned to deal with it.

Still didn't mean I had to like it, regardless of how necessary doing this job was to getting my foot in the door.

 **XXX**

"Master. The charges have been placed, as you have requested." One of the Master machines as it looked at the imposing form of its Creator. Said Creator was still for a long moment as the Power Armored being continued to look at the facility that they had just raided, having been given the designated task of terminating all living beings within the facility. It was a task that had been carried out with maximum efficiency, having ensured that no being had escaped, nor that any had survived as the [Mustafarians] failed to even damage or destroy a single one of their number. Their Creator's Power Armor was, likewise, hardly damaged besides a few spots of carbon scorching that had come as a result of the rare Blaster scattered among the opposing forces.

As a result, the machines have concluded over their network that the objective had been efficiently completed, with it only taking a total of two hours and twelve minutes, which they made a note of improving upon at a later date, since many argued that such a task should have been carried out much more swiftly against such a weak force, regardless of their numbers.

"... Good. Set the charges to detonate in five minutes with a backup detonator, in case the timer fails. Also, send confirmation to the Representative, photo proof will do, but keep any images of our forces out of the images. Inform me when they have sent payment. Otherwise, return to the _Raptor_ , we are done here." The Creator stated simply as the A-64 nodded in compliance, already relaying orders to the other machines, who had been gathering other materials to take back to the _Raptor_ to allow for future construction to be carried out.

"It shall be done, Master." The robot spoke as the Creator merely turned and started walking back to the landed vessel, hidden in canyon on the other side of the cliff face as all the other machines moved to join him. Only the single Master machine stayed behind, waiting for its task to be complete as those five minutes ticked by before it had what it needed and left the area.

As the five minutes finished counting down, the Void-7 seismic charges went off, detonating within the facility. The shockwave and blast of the explosives working to destroy their anchoring foundations and causing the entire facility to fall into the river of lava below. what caverns had been excavated were utterly destroyed as another lava river running over the cliff suddenly found itself being dropped, suddenly reforming into a lava-fall that filled the caverns and destroyed any traces of them.

A minute after the detonation, there was no trace of the once-present facility. Six minutes later, the Techno Union had transferred the payments to the correct account, with a message of thanks for the removal of the problem.

The Creator seemed rather please by this.

 **XXX**

When I came aboard the _Drill Sergeant_ , I honestly had been rather curious as to what I was going to find.

Stepping through the airlock, I will admit that finding a double line of troopers, decked out in full armor and acting as an honor guard, was rather impressive. They all stood at attention, weapons at the ready and looking like, if a firefight broke out within an instant, that they would be ready to deal with it. Taking a moment to myself, I glanced over the armor and found it rather impressive, looking and working as I expected, though the helmet ended up looking more like the robots from Total Recall 2012 than Sith Troopers from the Jedi Civil War. Not that I minded, but it was an interesting difference to note.

At the other end of the honor guard, I saw a smiling Avun waiting for me, a pair of troopers were standing on either side of her, both wearing slightly different armor that had dark red plates rather than the standard dark grey. Mentally, I reviewed what that variant was before I felt an eyebrow rise in interest.

"I didn't realize that you were training Commandos at this point, Avun." I remarked as she looked at me, her face turning into a wide, beaming smile as she walked forwards and quickly slid her arms around my neck, pulling herself into me as she kissed me. I'll admit, the kiss was somewhat awkward, mostly since I didn't know whether to enjoy it or be revolted by what it represented, the former being self-explanatory, while the latter was a bit more complex, due to my own actions in causing her to become like this.

"I thought it would be best to have them trained as soon as possible, especially given the lack of manpower at the current moment in time." She remarked as I nodded in understanding at that point, still slightly uncomfortable about the experience of kissing the Chiss.

"Fair enough." I agreed as we separated, somewhat reluctantly on the Chiss's part, glad for the change in subject. I honestly had no reason to not want them trained as soon as possible, I was just surprised to have some trained so soon, mainly because I had created the Commandos with the idea of them being masters of a few different things, along with being skilled in a number of different areas. I never did plan to have them taught how to use Magic or the like, not initially at least, but Chi was something I felt would work out well for them, as the various martial arts offered numerous abilities that they could use, even in full armor, and gave them an edge in CQB. Along with that, they were equipped with much more advanced armor, as a show of their status as being elite soldiers.

"So...? What kind of numbers have you managed to cook up while I was away?" I asked, curious as to what other forces I now had to work with even as I crushed the minor annoyance as thoughts of other things crept into the back of my mind. Mainly, the fact I didn't get a reward for the Mustafar job, but, then again, ROB had said that he would only reward me for _battles_ or _wars_ , not _massacres_ , so the annoyance was more self-directed than anything else, making the echoes of remorse and guilt grow a bit before I ruthlessly crushed them down.

"Out of the four hundred recruits I picked up on Nar Shaddaa, all of them have completed the basic training that you required of them and have begun more advanced training as of a few days ago. The Commandos were picked out early into the training process and have also completed some of the more basic training programs that you have had compiled. Though, they have only just started a few of the more advanced programs, I can say that the thirty Commandos that have been trained up to the present time are certainly more dangerous than a fair number of beings in the Galaxy." Avun stated as she slipped around to my side, holding on to my arm as we started walking, Avun gently pulling at my arm as I followed along, the Commandos following along as well, weapons at the ready as I noted that neither of them seemed overly bothered by what was happening in front of them. I noted, with a certain amount of interest, that both of them were armed with heavy duty Plasma Rifles, Medium-ranged weapons, but each one having enough power behind them to allow them to effectively spear through a most vehicles and even a fair number of light tanks.

Mentally, I wondered about firing them inside a starship, especially one that wasn't as well armored, both internally and externally, as the _Drill Sergeant_.

"What about vehicle, starship, robot and Power Armor training?" I asked as we walked, curious as to what other areas she had managed to cover, since it her current results sounded promising.

"Those are due to begin after they've finished their more advanced training. After they've been fully trained as infantry, each soldier will be given the choice of what to learn to pilot and maintain with their choices being made up from those four categories. For the first two, it will be a more general training that they will continue through their service as they encounter ships and vehicles, along with those that you plan for the Sicarius to use. For the other two, those will be far more narrow in scope, but will still cover any equipment you decide to put into use for the PMC, with additional training being optional after they have been released to their duty, allowing them to more easily learn about these new machines." The Chiss explained as I nodded at that point since I understood it rather well. Honestly, I liked the idea of having each soldier have a range of skills to call upon, meaning that simply killing the pilot of a given vehicle wouldn't stop it, since it meant that all of them were equally capable. I started making plans to encourage this kind of approach, since I figured it would make things far more difficult to derail.

"Good. That kind of approach sounds promising, keep it up." I stated simply as I saw Avun give me another beaming smile as my praise seemed to get her to stand just that bit straighter. Along with that, out of the corner of my eye, I saw both of the Commandos standing just that bit straighter in turn, a quick scan with a bit of Empathy told me that they were proud of my approval of their progress, along with Avun, who was proud that I approved of her methods, whatever they were. I suppressed the need to frown at that, feeling slightly suspicious of that little fact as I wondered what she had done, but decided that it didn't matter, at least for the moment, I had other things to worry about. Jobs had started to come in after I had completed that job on Mustafar, word already spreading in the higher levels of the corporate world that I, and my budding company were for hire. Most of the preliminary stuff was just basic things, dealing with pirates, guarding conveys of ships, removing opposition by destroying or stealing from a rival corporation, nothing major, but it was still a living.

"Now then..." I started. "I think that we should carry this on, Avun. We've both got a lot ahead of us, and I think that, if everything is going to work out, we're going to need to expand, massively so. I'll be keeping you in charge of training and recruitment for the time being, if only because the results I've seen so far have already proven that I was right to ask you to do this. You don't mind, do you?" Avun smiled widely at that, pressing herself into me as I felt her hand gently slide over my muscles, drawing more than one shudder of pleasure running up and down my spine. She kept on smiling as she leaned in and started whispering in my ear.

"Don't worry, Michael... For you... I'd do... _Anything_..." She spoke sensually into my ear even as I felt my body react to her presence. Though, I was coming to fall in love with Avun, a part of me didn't want to do it like this, feeling rather awkward about the idea, not to mention being extremely hesitant to do so given the changes in her personality since she had started augmenting herself. A part of me still didn't approve of it, especially since it made me feel like some kind of rapist, but there was nothing I could really do to change it at this stage, given that even removing the implants would do more harm than good. Even then, I had no idea where the influence of those implants ended and her own feelings began, Empathy was of limited use and any subtly inquiries I made about Chiss behavior were shrugged off, saying that her behavior was normal. The Holonet and ancient databases I had dug up were next to useless, but that was expected, not to mention my own knowledge was limited since the old Wiki pages didn't mention anything about Chiss emotions beyond them being tightly controlled in public.

"... That's what I'm worried about..." I muttered softly to myself as I took a step back from Avun, as she rebalanced herself without hesitant or fault as I quickened my pace, feeling the predatory gaze of Avun on my back as I shuddered at the feeling before shaking my head with a frown curved into my features.

I had a lot of things I needed done, dealing with Avun was just another item on the ever-growing list of concerns I found myself with.

 **XXX**

"Begin the Operation... Now!"

The order was carried out within moments as I sped through space, already fully armored and armed in my Hell Talon armor, followed by several others that were coming up behind me in modified versions of SAMAS armor, redesigned to allow for void-based operations as well as trans-atmospheric capabilities. Each of them was based on the X-11 Predator II armors of Triax, their bodies lacking any features save for a tri-pointed star, said symbol stuck out in crimson on the black armor of the suits of power armor. Honestly, they weren't really _True_ SAMAS suits, but the difference, at this point, was rather academic at best. They could fly, fight on the ground, underwater, in the air and in space, I figured they should be called as such.

Likewise, they were already proving their worth as I, plus another 69 of them opened fire on our target: An asteroid base that was carefully hidden in an out of the way system along the Rimma Trade Route. Around the base, I could make out a few dozen weapon emplacements along with a few dozen turrets, a few hangars that had been left open that I could see work crews moving around in, seemingly working on a few Headhunters and the like, along with a few other types of craft that I didn't immediately recognize, though, they looked like Shuttles stolen from the Trade Federation, if I had to hazard a guess. Honestly, such a thing only made sense, given that the base we were attacking was one that belonged to a group called Nebula Front, as shown by the symbol they had painted on the side of their base, the big, double facing arrow in blue. I rolled my eyes at that, wondering how these idiots hadn't been killed off already, given how, while they weren't out in the open, they certainly hadn't hiding themselves very well.

It was rather sloppy.

"All units, break into pairs and begin attack. Have the Assault craft follow in behind us once we've cleared out their hangars. Once the airspace around the target is secure, forty of you will remain outside to keep the area secured, the rest of us will move into the station to provide support to the infantry. Clear?" I asked as I heard their response in perfect unison.

"Sir, yes sir." They all spoke as I nodded to myself raising my Assault Cannon and readying my weapons, their range, in space, was admittedly rather short, but in a dogfight, that hardly mattered, especially when we had a few advantages on our side.

Silence filled the communication lines as I waited for all of us to finally cross the minimum engagement range before I smirked as I decided that it was time for some fun. This was not like the job on Mustafar, for many reasons, for one, it was to be the first true test of my organic forces in actual combat, along with the use of my robots to assist. For another, this wasn't going to be a slaughter, sure, I had doubts about any of my forces being killed, but these idiots actually stood a chance of, at the very least, surviving, which made this a battle. I wanted to fight against someone that _might_ actually have a chance, something that had not happened in a while, especially since I was in full power armor.

"... All units, open fire!" I shouted into the communication lines as things turned from cold to hot, Thrusters, which had been running cold, blazed to life while the jamming fields on each suit of armor were disabled as each armor accelerated at maximum speed. Targets were quickly picked, shared over the tactical network to ensure that no one was shooting at the same thing, while I opened fire myself as well. The space around me was filled with a wave of Lasers, Ion lances, Particle beams and railgun shells that went speeding for the asteroid base as I watched with a grim smile as the attacks hit.

With the base caught by surprise, they hadn't bothered having their shields up since they must have felt that an attack wasn't likely to come, but it had. The first hits made sure that such a thing was unlikely to happen, as scans had revealed where their shield generators were and turned them to scrap as a few dozen turrets were destroyed while the atmospheric containment fields for a few hangars were broken. Said hangars were now completely open as the atmosphere was evacuated from them in an instant, killing maintenance crews and pilots that were just fast enough to reach their crafts. Other hangars managed to escape that fate, but only just, some having slammed bulkheads down as fighters left the station, Headhunters flying in a loose formation that told me everything I needed to know about these forces.

They were sloppy, poorly trained and hadn't practiced flying together, some of them seemed to be racing each other to meet us, probably a holdover from attacking defenseless merchant ships.

I smirked at that, it would prove to be their undoing.

A command and a slight shift and I found myself rocketing towards the formation in turn, weapons at the ready as my shoulder turret moved into position, already tracking targets as I subtly primed what mini-missiles I had on me from the various hidden compartments in the armor. Already, things turned interesting as the first fighter approached, screaming his bloodlust at me with bolts of barely stabilized Plasma that flew through the void towards me as I shifted my flight path, avoiding them while continuing my approach. An instant later, and I was right in his face as Vibro-blades extended and I slammed the blade into the large nose of the starfighter before dragging it with me, slicing through it even as I cut the pilot in half, momentum working against him as his ship, while less maneuverable than my armor, had been accelerating a lot faster than I was. His friends didn't get much time to understand what was going on either, snap shots from my Assault cannon, along with its under barrel Laser, killed many while others found themselves in dogfights with my soldiers, who were using their superior agility to their advantage as they out-turned and outgunned the starfighters by a significant margin.

Mini-missiles soon filled the void as the Headhunters, armored only with a pair of Blaster cannons, were ill-suited for this kind of fight, even less so when one added in the fact that they were at least two generations behind the current models.

Still, I would admit that the fighter pilots gave a good account of themselves. Around me, saw engagements where my Power Armor pilots fared well, but still came out of it with damage, scorch marks and divots having been boiled into the armor plating, along with a few which had had their wings damaged by being whacked by another Headhunter, one having had their wing ripped in half, but still hanging together while the other had a rather significant dent on their main thrusters, making them less maneuverable and more of a liability. Thankfully, no one died as the last fighter was killed off quickly, mini-missiles having swarmed him as I heard his last, panicked, words. Honestly, it amused me a fair bit that these idiots thought they could push us back, but that hardly mattered, especially as we all turned back towards the station and accelerated, moving in to quickly surround it and disarm it as I got another message coming through.

The Assault Craft had arrived.

Truthfully speaking, they weren't anything special. Each one was a random craft that we had bought cheaply and modified with heavy armor and shields before throwing on a mag-lock collar and surrounded it with Plasma Cutters. We had ten of them, each one fully loaded with about 25 soldiers, plus another fifteen robots of various kinds while the rest of my forces remained back with the _Drill Sergeant_ and the _Raptor_.

"We are ready to begin on your command, Michael." Was the message that caused me to smile. This job was going to be short, if nothing else, with Avun joining the boarding teams as I nodded to myself while turning back to the station. Said station was still firing sporadically at the Predator-equipped men, but it had mostly been declawed of what few turrets it had, maybe a few dozen at most while they continued to circle around it, looking for more turrets or access points, building a complete picture of the structure in the tactical network. Opening a channel, I decided that we didn't have a reason to wait.

"Begin whenever you feel like it, Avun. I'll be taking a few of the least damaged Predators with me and we'll act as a vanguard. Besides, there is nothing quite like a bit of shock and awe, don't you think?" I asked jokingly as I heard a slight giggle on the other side.

"If you wish, we'll follow you in." She said as I nodded to myself before cutting the line with a thought, opening another to the group that had already been selected to come with me.

"Alright, my group, form up on me. We'll be heading into the station as a vanguard for the others. Don't be afraid to be creative with how you fight just because we're in an asteroid base. We can survive in space with these armors, as can the infantry, the other guys will be lucky if they last an hour in vacuum. Let's use that to our advantage." I stated as they sent their affirmatives before chasing after me, forming a tight formation around me as I spotted my entry point.

A window leading into a bar where I could see a dozen idiots running around like headless chickens.

"Idiots..." I muttered, unimpressed by that as I saw that they hadn't even bothered to secure the windows with blast shields. Not that they wouldn't have done any good, but it was the principle of the thing, damnit!

"Knock, knock Motherfuckers!" I roared over an open channel as I smirked, my acceleration doing its job as I moved towards the station, heading straight for the window.

The idiots inside barely had more than a second to realize what was about to happen before I made contact with the window.

 **XXX**

If I had had a mirror on the inside of my helmet, I'm sure that I would have seen the crazy grin that had spread across my face as I continued to advance through the asteroid base. Entering through the window had given me a certain awe-factor, and it had worked brilliantly when it was repeated a few dozen other times, but the shock had eventually worn off as the idiots organized themselves and fought back. Their normal weapons proving to be none-too-effective against us as Blaster weapons didn't have enough punch to do much besides charring the paint on our armors unless they were high-powered cannons, and even that was iffy.

Instead, seeing that they lacked those kind of weapons, they turned to something a little more interesting: Thermal Detonators.

The humble Thermal Detonator was a potent thing, it could express enough energy to badly damage the suits of Power Armor and could _definitely_ kill the infantry soldiers I had with me if they got careless. The initial use of them on the station had been a surprise that had cost us three suits of Power Armor, their pilots and a squad of eight soldiers. More had died since that point, but those numbers were less than the initial hit, since it had become apparent that Avun hadn't trained my men to be idiots. They'd adapted in a few moments, and now took careful steps to avoid traps and Thermal Detonators, even going as far as recalibrating the sensors in the helmet of one soldier per squad, using them like living bomb detectors. It was actually quite smart.

As for the resistance we were getting faced with, it mostly came down to idiots in cheap durasteel and Plastoid armor that looked rather basic with a limited air supply, an hour or less, if my guess wasn't off. It was nothing too impressive, but it was noticeable to me as we continued to fight our way through these idiots. The contract being to simply ensure that they were removed and no longer a threat to the Trade Federation, how we did this was up to us, but it was implied that they wanted the pests as dead as dead could get. As a direct result of that, the station itself wasn't being kept in one piece as the consequences of those Thermal Detonators ensured that entire sections of the base were blown into hard vacuum while my men didn't bother preventing hull breaches.

Hey, it wasn't our station, so why would be bother keeping it in one piece? Besides, it wasn't part of the contract, not to mention that this was a contract that lacked many of the moral dilemmas that I had faced when I started up the PMC. This wasn't a slaughter of random, potentially innocent, people with a difference of opinion, this was dealing with a bunch of idiots that went out of their way to basically act like Pirates. Something that was much easier to deal with.

Jumping out of cover, I still felt the grin on my face as I opened fire with Particle Beams, Railgun shells and Lasers, the damage caused being more than enough to ensure that the targets stayed dead as another twelve windows were blown out thanks to the sonic boom while burned corpses started floating around. Artificial gravity had already either been deactivated or disabled, for one reason or another, mainly because the Front thought it would slow us down when it just made things easier for us, given that moving in zero-g only allowed us to attack from other angles. Along with that, I noted a dozen men already moving ahead, down a side passage that ran parallel to another section of the station, a quick check of the tactical network told me what they were doing, causing me to grin as they started planting breaching charges on the walls.

Nothing was more unexpected than a random wall being blown in to make a new door.

 _ **BOOM!**_

Especially when said door was made right on top of your position.

"Avun, I think we have almost cleared out the last pocket of resistance. Can you confirm?" I asked over the communication network as I looked over the other information on the network. Honestly, what remained of the station probably wasn't even worth scrap to a junk dealer, but it had already served its purpose as a valuable test run for my forces. Looking over the tactical network, I found Avun, along with a few guards, hanging around what seemed to be what remained of the primary computer core of the station. I wondered if she was going to try and recover any data, though, I mused, I had my doubts.

I _distinctly_ remembered being rather thorough with that room.

"I can confirm, Michael. Internal sensors are limited, but those on patrol outside the station have reported that they can't detect all that many more unidentified heat signatures. Apparently, they're falling back to a singular hangar on the far side of the station from where you initially entered. My best guess would be that they seem to be preparing a ship to make an escape attempt." Avun reported as I frowned at that, I didn't feel like allowing it, especially since I didn't feel like giving away my force's abilities just yet, not only that, but it would also cause me to lose a fair bit of money as a result.

"... Alright. Have the Armor pilots exit the station and head directly for the outer blast door of the hangar while the infantry head's for the hangar from inside the station, we'll catch them from two sides and squeeze them from there. See if you can't get some control of the surrounding areas and seal them off, I want them to be unable to leave, even if we have to blast a few holes in the walls to get through to them." I paused for a moment as an idea came to me. "Also, see what you can do about disabling life support, internal heating, artificial gravity and any other internal system that might help them survive."

"It will be done." I heard back before I sent an acknowledgement, closing the link after that before getting myself ready for what was to come as I started moving, followed shortly by the other Armor pilots even as the sounds of Blasters firing slowly left me, having become silent as air seemed to be evacuated from the corridors.

"Sir. The atmosphere appears to have been vented, all hostiles not equipped with vacuum-rated armor have died from the lack of heat and oxygen. We are advancing towards the hangar." Came the quick report of another one of my troopers as I only felt a feral grin cover my face as I nodded.

"Then take advantage of this fact. They have been reduced to a paltry number, let us reduce that to zero." I commanded darkly as I saw the trooper I had spoken to nod.

"As you command."

 **XXX**

"Kriff! Here they come!" Came the shout as the remaining members of Nebula Front were snapped to attention. None of them had known when the final attack was due to come, none of them _wanted_ to know, as it would have put a number on how long they had until they were wiped out, but that didn't mean that they weren't going to sell their lives dearly. Their enemy had already proven to be far, _far_ more dangerous and imaginative than any Trade Federation Droid or stubborn Spacer, they had taken to attacking them in ways that many had not expected, some even thinking it insane.

But it worked.

The people attacking them had started by ripping open holes in their station, charging through windows, guns blazing and shooting everything in sight within super-heavy suits of armor with weapons that belonged on the point defense turrets of some warships. There fighter screens had barely lasted a few minutes, and then they had been boarded by soldiers who seemed to think that blowing holes in a space station with breaching charges was a brilliant idea. They attacked them through walls, from the ceiling, through the floor and, in one horrifying example, they had even decided to vent the main living space into hard vacuum by simply shooting enough holes into the hull that containment of the atmosphere was simply impossible. The escaping air had ripped many members of the Front off their feet, throwing them to the void, while their attacks hadn't suffered a similar fate, having prepared for that with insanely strong mag-boots.

Honestly, at this point, many wished that they had rationed out the Thermal Detonators more carefully, mostly because they seemed to have been the only effective weapon against these frakkers, especially against their heavy armors.

Now, however, they had to go without, something that terrified more than one of them, even as they tried to keep warm, their vacuum suits having never been built with endurance in mind, meaning that the internal heaters weren't as good as more advanced models, just built for a quick space walk and back. Most of them had been modified with armor plates, but, against these attackers, those plates didn't really do all that much.

"Get down!" Came the scream from one man as he ducked a bright beam of energy that burned through multiple walls, killing a few men behind him while bolts of superheated Plasma were thrown around like candy. Their return fire was less than effective as the enemies continued to advance, unhindered by the lack of gravity while they suffered for it, having to tether themselves to the ground in some places. A fact that their enemies were ruthlessly exploiting as they started blasting holes through walls to flank them, throwing grenades at them which they couldn't escape and even battering them to death as some managed to close the distance.

The attackers continued to prove themselves ever more dangerous with each push, adapting and advancing without pause as they were moved back to the hangar.

"Seal the Kriffing Blast door! Seal it!" Came the order from one of the higher-ranked members of the Front as others tried to keep the enemy suppressed, having limited success as most of the attackers managed to wade through it, only taking cover every few steps to reaffirm their footing.

"Oh Kriff! Heavy Armor!" Came the shout of one of the men by the door. that shout was followed by a beam of energy being fired through the still closing doors, killing a few more men behind their ad hoc barricades while also damaging one of the ships that had been designated as an escape vessel. Many paled at that, since they knew that, if one of the Heavy Armors was present, more were on their way, and having even one of those things in a confined space was a nightmare, having a dozen of them... Well, there were far less painful ways to die.

Finally, the blast doors rumbled shut, being sealed by a team of welders as they worked quickly to make it harder to reopen the doors once more as plates of durasteel were tacted on to the door. It was hoped that it would, at the very least, slow the attacking forces down.

"Alright... I think that should buy us a bit of time..." Came the voice of one of the welders over the radio, the air having long since been evacuated from the chamber.

"How much time?" Came another voice, the highest ranking survivor on the station.

"Don't know, but I'd guess about three, maybe four, minutes, if we're lucky." The welder remarked, looking over at the metre of Durasteel plating that had been welded over the doors and the surrounding areas. However, it seemed that the welder had decided to tempt fate with his report and, as it would happen, hadn't backed away from the doorway far enough. As a result, he wasn't even given the chance to scream as a massive blade impaled him from behind, straight through the plating that had been added as the sound of screaming metal filled the air. Said metal having been rended open as massive swords started appearing through the armored walls and blast doors around the room, multiple long cuts were already being made in the massive hangar doors leading to space, signifying that they weren't escaping any time soon.

Many could only look on in terror as their entire bodies shuddered with dread at what was to come.

The last thing many of them saw were the glowing gun barrels of their attackers, massive suits of armor, and the ominous, red sigil of a tri-pointed star on those armors.

Many could only think of how that symbol would become feared, as they became the first successful demonstrations of the soldiers of Sicarius.

 **XXX**

Floating in the void, I smirked as I looked at what was before me.

The Nebula Front base was now a far cry from what it had once been. The rock surface was now covered in more craters and the prefabs that had been assembled on, and through, the asteroid were riddled with holes, filled with corpses and utterly devastated as no being had been left alive. It was something I had ordered done, for a number of reasons, but it had proven to be the best course of action, mostly because I didn't feel like leaving anyone alive that could warn others of the abilities of my unit. With that in mind, I wanted to remove any further proof from the equation as I noted a message appearing in the corner of my eye.

'Charges armed. Awaiting your command.' I smiled, it was a repeat of what I did on Mustafar, but it was probably the best course of action, given that I didn't want to leave physical evidence behind. Mentally, I went to activate a communication link as I turned towards the ships, intent to return back to my forces, but that was when I noticed it. Light was spreading from the points of light that radiated from distant stars, turning into a rainbow of colour that hurt my eyes to look at even as I saw dozens of colours that looked like they belonged in the Warp. I cringed at some of them, my eyes hurting even seeing them as I suddenly found myself back on a fractal-patterned platform of impossible geometry with another figure standing opposite me.

"An interesting start, but I wonder how you will move on from this point?" Came the voice of the other, smooth, cultured and authoritarian, carrying with it a core of un questionable power as I found myself falling just a tad bit short as I looked at the form that the ROB had taken as I turned to him, it. Gone was the form of HK-47, in the place of the homicidal Droid, was the Dark Lord that sparked the Jedi Civil War in a quest to see the Republic hardened against the coming threat of the Sith Empire. His form clad in dark robes while his face hidden by the trademark red and black mask of the Dark Lord Revan himself. I froze for a moment at that, both at the appearance he had chosen, but also at the question itself before I thought about it for a moment, before shrugging.

"Building Sicarius was a start, I know what is coming, and I fully intend to, at the very least, survive it. With Sicarius, I intend to stake a claim on some corner of the Galaxy and ride out what is coming, though, knowing my luck, I'll probably end up being dragged into everything that happens anyway." I shrugged again.

"If that's going to happen anyway, I might have an army by my side." I remarked as the ROB nodded at that with a slight chuckle.

"At least you are smart about it. Others tried to make waves without having the strength to either control or direct those waves, some ended up dead, others were tortured for information before being discarded. Try to avoid such fates, as I have foreseen glimpses of what chaos you shall unleash upon this realm. It goes without saying that I would find such things... _Entertaining_." The ROB stated as I nodded in full understanding. This ROB had already shown that he was completely apathetic to the loss of life and, as such, didn't give a damn either way about the number of lives I took, hell, he'd probably congratulate me if I decided to head to Courscant tomorrow, challenge the entire Republic Navy to a fight, slaughter them, then burn the Core World to bedrock.

"Good, you are beginning to learn." I was brought out of my musings as I heard that, reminded once more that my thoughts weren't safe at the sound of that amused voice as I snapped my focus back to the 'present'.

"Regardless, we are done here, your reward for this nugget of amusement has already been delivered, and awaits you upon your return to the vessel that you have named the _Raptor_. I hope you enjoy it..."

And with that, I was back in the void, a half finished message blinking in my visor as I mentally wondered what I could expect when I returned to the _Raptor_.

 **XXX**

Walking through the corridors of my ship, I mentally considered the meeting I had just had. Not the holo-call I just had with one of the Directors of the Trade Federation, as a way of telling him that the job was complete, though that had gone well enough. No, my mind still couldn't turn away from the meeting I had with the ROB as I still considered what I could expect within the hold of my ship. Honestly speaking, I was both curious and hesitant to even find out as, while his last gift had been very useful, I was unsure as to what to expect this time.

Walking down the corridor to the hangar bay, I turned and approached the door to the hold before watching it open in response to my approach. Stepping inside, I looked around to see nothing out of the ordinary, nothing that immediately stood out to me. That, however, ended when I saw an object in the corner of my eye that looked like a cylindrical container that was covered by a white cloth, something else hanging around next to it, but I couldn't begin to guess what it was until I approached, grabbing the blanket before pulling it off.

The second object, I absently noted, was a pair of datapads and a rather large tome of some description, covered in strange markings and words that hurt my head to even look at, but not in the same way as a meeting with my ROB, as I noted the symbol on it. However, it was the main object that drew my attention, it was this object, and its contents, that made me take a step back in surprise and no small amount of shock.

Inside the transparent sides of the container, I saw its contents and felt my draw drop as I guessed that there was no less than fifty of the objects within the container, each one being the size of a tennis ball.

Eyes. Specifically, the Eyes of Eylor, the living planet...

 **XXX**

AN: Hope you enjoyed this chapter, please tell me what you thought in the reviews. Until next time!


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I own nothing, this is purely for recreational purposes.

AN: Ok, next chapter ahoy, but first!

 **RoyalTwinFangs** : I will consider it, though I have a few other ideas at the current time.

 **DahakStaz** : I'm aware of that ship, can't remember it's name for the life of me, but I know what you're talking about. Rest assured, I already had plans for that ship, which will come out in later chapters. Just be patient.

 **Indecisive Bob** : Thanks for pointing that out, I'll try and avoid overusing 'idiot' in the future.

 **TheMysteriousOtaku** : The former, but I can do the latter when I've got a good idea to work with.

 **TeamDeath** : I'm still on the fence between neutral and CIS, but I'll see how I feel.

Anyway, on with the story!

 **XXX**

The Eyes of Eylor.

They were potent things, apparently parts taken from a massive living planet that, if I recalled correctly, was probably around the same size as, or bigger than, Jupiter. They were potent ingredients in both Bio-wizardry and the creation of Techno-Wizardry devices, often being used to create many types of potent staffs, and a few weapons, by the Splugorth. Sure, I could make them, the knowledge in my head allowing me to do such a thing, but the question was whether or not I even wanted to.

I hadn't been a big fan of Magic, sure, I used the occasional spell while outside of combat, but that was the limit of it since I wasn't really all that interested in doing so. My Psionics, likewise, were restricted to either being low key stuff or being used outside of the spotlight, mostly because I didn't want to deal with a list of my capabilities being spread around. Though, even as I looked at that container of eyes, I paused at that thought, mostly because I considered what it meant that I could use both Magic and Psionics, even stuff that I shouldn't have been able to use, like the Elemental spells of a Warlock or the techniques of the Biomancer Gene-mage. Hell, using Chi and Chinese techniques outside of China shouldn't have been possible.

As I thought about it, it made me consider how it worked since it kind of went against the game mechanics I could remember reading about. It took me five minutes before I decided that it wasn't worth trying to puzzle out since it just meant I had more advantages on my side, not to mention that real life was not dictated by the game mechanics described in random books. Still, that left me with the question of what to do with those eyes. Looking back at the container, I saw them floating around in a clear solution, unblinking and utterly unaware of the word around them, it was more than enough to make me consider the fact that I could just chuck them out an airlock, if only to be rid of the creepy things. Of course, as soon as that thought came, I threw it away, I did _not_ want to needlessly antagonize a being that could have ended my existence without a single thought and who was, somewhat, rewarding me for services rendered.

Sighing to myself, I gestured absently, attracting the attention of an A-63 from the side of the hangar, as it had a few others had finished bringing my armor down from the airlock entry point, checking it over for faults, and storing it away for later.

"What is your command, Master?" It asked as I glanced up at it, leaning back in a chair that sat next to my workbenches, all of which were filled with random junk as I looked at the tome, which I was rather interested in looking over, and the container of eyes.

"Put the container filled with eyes away for safe keeping, seal it carefully and ensure that it will not be damaged or its contents could spill out in any way, shape or form. Also, take this tome to my quarters, I wish to study it in detail at a later time." I commanded as the machine nodded deeply to me.

"As you command, Master." It returned before moving quickly, grabbing the tome as more machines quickly appeared and took the container and left, making their way out of the cargo bay, at least one of them, before heading off to store the stuff as I leaned even further back into my chair, looking up at the ceiling of the room. As I did so, I couldn't help rubbing the bridge of my nose as I considered what kind of 'reward' I might be getting next.

"Knowing my luck... It'll probably be a Master Vampire, a full tribe of Shemarrians or an Xiticix Elder Queen..." I muttered to myself, only offering the ceiling a sardonic smirk.

Knowing my luck, I wouldn't put it passed the bastard to have all three of them being dropped on my ass at the same time, all of them having been turned into my slaves, willing slaves at that...

... Sometimes, I hated my new life...

 **XXX**

"How long until the fleet is complete?" I asked as I glanced over my shoulder, having heard the soft sounds of feet tapping along the metal floor as I saw Avun approaching me with her usual flirty smile and sway, not to mention her usual sense of attire.

"For this group? Not long. Current estimates say that, should the size of the work force remain the same, it will taken another two, maybe three, years. Increasing the size of the workforce will only speed that up if you decide to allocate the needed resources towards that course of action. However, the entire fleet will not be complete for another decade, minimum. Then again, that is just for the smaller vessels, the larger ones will take even longer." Avun stated simply, smooth tones oozing from between her lips as she came up behind me, wrapping both arms over my shoulders and letting them hang over my chest, I felt her tracing her faux-finger nails over my muscles as I glanced at her head. She smiled back at me, clearly happy about the attention even as she continued to try caressing me into giving in to temptation and taking her right there, something that was only getting more difficult since she had been emboldened by my own refusal to give in to said temptations.

"Fair point. How goes the recruitment and job searching?" I asked her as I turned my gaze back to the titanic vessel, thought, still small by warship standards, outside the window of the observation room, said window wasn't really a window, but a screen that displayed what was on the other side of nearly five metres of solid armor plating. I felt Avun perk up at my question, quite literally since she was pressing herself into my back at this point.

"Very well. Your forces stand at nearly five thousand strong at this point, with almost a five hundred of those being fully trained Reapers, fully armed and armored as you wished them to be. I have another two thousand recruits to add to that, but they should finish training over the next three months, the earliest group will be within a months and a half, with the last one being at the three month mark." I nodded at that, as I considered the statistics that I had just been given.

Going from around four hundred to nearly five thousand had been rather impressive, especially in just a single year, not to mention the fact that this had been done while still taking jobs from various sources and building our own equipment. Not only that, but this also happened to include the creation of the Reapers, who had, at one point, been called the Commandos before I had decided to change them to make them even more dangerous fighters through the user of a number of Chinese techniques and technologies, among other things.

For one thing, each and every Reaper was technically a Crazy, due to the M.O.M implants they had, but were disturbingly controlled and self-disciplined due to having undergone high levels of training, making them have more in common with the Chinese Lightning Warriors than normal Crazies. For another thing, they were also trained in multiple styles of combat, a number of Body Hardening techniques that honestly seemed to border on war crimes, how to carry out the normal duties of a Commando-type soldier, along with how to function as a Gun Master. That last point was of extreme interest, if only because it meant that they were even more dangerous since it increased their abilities with guns to the point that some had actually started to wonder if they weren't Jedi.

I mentally sighed at that, _that_ reputation had come about after I accepted a job from the Hutts to take out a new cartel that had sprung up within their territory and had refused to pay tribute to them. The Hutts had wanted an extreme show of force and, for some mysterious reason, come to me. I figured it was due to my pageant for 'overkill', whatever that was, but had taken the job anyway and deployed twenty Reapers to the job.

Turns out, that had been overkill of insane proportions since the twenty soldiers had literally walked through a rain of Blaster bolts without a scratch, leaving dead bodies in their wake while doing things that some of the watchers must have believed were only possible for Jedi to do. Needless to say, my reputation within the Criminal Underworld jumped through the roof since I could apparently field 'Jedi Hit-squads' at will. The Hutts were happy with their work, so much so that I'm _still_ getting a gleaming reference from them, not to mention choice picks of their job offers, mostly seek-and-destroy or seek-and-retrieve missions, but they did throw in the occasional mission to kidnap someone, rescue someone, or even to just slaughter everyone in a general area.

Honestly, seeing the aftermath of that last job had made it rather clear to everyone that they would have to tread carefully around my assets, especially after one group of idiots found themselves on the receiving end of over a hundred Reapers, backed up by Infantry, Power Armor air and orbital support, when they decided it was a good idea to try and raid the base I had built. Said base was located in an Asteroid field in the Outer Rim, located on the border between Wild Space and the Outer Rim, hidden even further by an Asteroid belt and a complex system of stealth and jamming systems. They had found it by pure luck, and those that survived, had not lived long enough to tell anyone else the secret.

Let it never be said that I didn't guard my secrets well, and viciously.

Still, as I drew myself to my original thoughts, the timetable of new recruits meant that I'd be getting four lots of five hundred new soldiers to add to the total list by the end of that three month period, which was good. The outcome of such would just mean that I could look forwards to sending out more groups of soldiers to work on jobs, bringing more funds as soldiers worked as units varying in size from a single, ten-man squad, to groups of four hundred, the largest deployment of which had to be over a two thousand soldiers to attack those idiots.

I smiled at that, the memories making me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, before I shook my head, bringing myself back to the present as I glanced back at Avun, who was now not-so-subtly grinding herself against my back, pressing her generous _assets_ into my back.

"And the job hunting?" I asked, since I noted that she had yet to answer that particular point. I got an answer in the form of her impish grin and her voice taking on a purring quality that would have most men falling over themselves to please her, either that, or trying to jump in her pants.

"Well... Since you asked..."

 **XXX**

Ekip'nowuq was not having a good day.

Well, some could say that he was having an absolutely terrible day, especially since he was currently hiding, ducking as armored figures advanced on his position. Looking around, the Twi'lek so some young idiot trying to jump up to fire back, only to not even manage to get a shot off as he was targeted by the attackers and ripped to pieces by a storm of fire. Ekip didn't dare stick his head out of cover, one guy had tried to use a mirror to get a look at them, but they had bounced a shot off the mirror and hit the guy in the face, still, even that level of skill was indicative of who was firing at them.

The Death Dealers.

Sure, Ekip knew they were actually called something else, but everyone in the Underworld knew them as Death Dealers, Jedi with guns was another term to describe them as they always seemed to move faster than should have been possible. They rarely, if ever, missed and most of them seemed like they could walk through a hail of Blaster bolts and not even take a hit, something that, unfortunately, was true.

The first thing that they had known that the Death Dealers were going to show up was when five of them literally crashed through a skylight before beginning to shoot holes in the bar they had been drinking in, dodging every shot that came at them. A quick look outside at that point had told them that this had not been limited to simply their bar, but had been taking place outside of the bar. Outside the window, Ekip could see blaster bolts and beams of light and energy being thrown around like they were going out of fashion, random starships were exploding in the night sky while the armored forms of dozens of soldiers just kept on going. Cursing quietly to himself, he wondered why he had even _wanted_ to try and take this job, a contract to create some kind of counterpoint to the newest rising star in the Underworld.

Sicarius.

"Oh yeah... The money..." He muttered bitterly to himself even as he slowly crept towards an opening in the wall, which had been the result of some dumbass trying to use a Rocket Launcher to kill the Death Dealers. The Rocket had missed entirely, hitting the wall, but it had given the gun-wielding Jedi a chance to shot said dumbass. Something that Ekip had considered a good thing, especially since it was that kind of stupid that had caused this whole mess.

Looking back at it now, as he tried crawling to safety, he wondered how drunk he was to even _think_ it was a good idea to join up with those idiots, a bunch of Cartels that had formed an alliance together, trying to limit or destroy Sicarius by targeting their assets outside of their hidden systems. Honestly, it wasn't surprising that they were trying to go that route, what with the results of the last attempt to attack Sicarius head-on, which had resulted in at least seven Cartels being wiped out for their arrogance. This Alliance, called the Alliance of Self-Interest, had decided to try something with a _little_ bit more sense to it, and had targeted their front companies instead, looking for companies, business ventures and suppliers of the Merc Company, and looking to destroy them that way.

In the beginning, things had gone great. They faced no immediate retaliation, their forces managed to make clean escapes and they usually left their targets as a pile of rubble as they attacked targets across the Outer Rim. Ekip enjoyed it greatly as well, the pay was good, and the bragging rights of having punched Sicarius in the nose and having gotten away with it was more than enough to get him a few drinks at any bar in the Outer Rim.

Of course, things hadn't lasted.

Turns out that Sicarius wasn't attacking them back for a simple reason: They weren't a threat to the rapidly growing company, and, in turn, were dealt with as such. Mostly, Sicarius just moved their stocks around and took advantage of the damages caused by their attacks. This led to them getting further entrenched within the Outer Rim, only becoming more difficult to damage as they seemed to gain more sources of funding faster than they could keep track of. Then it started, attacks came in from a dozen outposts at once before they were wiped out, no one doubted that the messages had been allowed to get through, since the people on the other side had clearly believed that they were being jammed. The attacks spiraled inwards, sweeping through the entire Outer Rim in the space of a few weeks before they had been cut off, encircled and surrounded by a fleet belonging to some of the most dangerous Mercs in the Galaxy.

Which led to him trying to slide out of a ruined bar in one of the now-devastated Fortress-cities of Zygerria.

Even as he slide out of the hole in the wall, the Twi'lek mercenary could only look around with dread as he saw the destruction that had been wrought already. Entire buildings were on fire with more than a dozen corpses littering the ground, numerous wrecks had hit the ground, digging trenches and impaling themselves in place while craters and rubble filled in everywhere else. All around him, Ekip could see ash, dark smoke and dust filling the air to the point that it looked too thick to breath properly, he almost chocked as he struggled to breath himself as he saw the forms of a dozen flying figures moving around in the sky. It was enough for him to try ducking for cover as he saw one streak over the street he was in, almost spotting him as he dropped into a nearby alley to escape.

"... Knew I shouldn't 'ave taken this job..." He muttered to himself, disregarding the fact that hindsight was 20/20, even as he continued to try and sneak through the corpse-littered streets, recognizing some of the bodies as he stalked through the streets before coming to a complete halt as he came to the end of one alley, about to turn the corner and have a straight shot to one of the smaller spaceports.

He stopped dead as he came to see the sight of the spaceport already under the control of Sicarius, squads of soldiers clad in black armor prowled around the buildings and hangars while barricades had been built rapidly to ensure that no one was going to be able to get pass as they had been bolted to the ground. Off to one side, he saw a few of the superheavy, flight capable suits of armors hanging around, having been perched high above to give them a perfect perch from which to fire. Around one side, he also spotted a dozen other things that told him that this wasn't good.

He saw what looked like tanks start to move around, embedding themselves further and making it even harder to for others to dig them out. However, those tanks weren't what grabbed his attention, no, that honor went to the strange being that he saw walking out of the base, a squad of black armored Death Dealers following behind her as the tri-star of Sicarius rested happily upon their foreheads. The figure looked like a woman, but was covered in black armor that looked heavy, thick and strong enough to deflect most anti-armor weapons. The Twi'lek shuddered at the thought, most of the normal grunts didn't go down for anything less than that, and even then, they were still able to get back up in most cases, needing multiple hits to keep them down. To see one that looked _stronger_ was not a good sign.

It only became worse when the woman-thing's head snapped around and looked directly at his position, eyes burning in an unholy cyan colour that seemed to drill straight through his soul.

The last sight of Ekip'nowuq, even if he didn't know it, was of the Second-in-Command of Sicarius as she entered the battlefield, intent on carrying out the orders of her commanding officer, superior and, she hoped, Master. Of course, with this being the implanted and augmented Chiss, she had of course decided to add her own twist to those orders.

After all, the soon-to-be former slaves of the Zygerria should feel honored to join the ranks of her Master's arm.

They just needed a little... _Persuasion_...

 **XXX**

Looking down at the remains of the once proud city, I had to admit, it really had been battered to oblivion, and then some.

The location had been the former HQ of the Alliance of Self-Interest, a grouping of some twenty up-and-coming Cartels that wanted my company gone, as a way of clearing the threat we represented as we had become something of a symbol.

Anytime you pissed off one of the big-name Cartels like the Hutts or the Black Suns and they wanted to set an example, Sicarius was often used as the tool of choice. Megacorperations, likewise, used us for their dirty dealings, mostly as a means to not get their own hands dirty. I knew I was being used as such, rather obvious to see when you could intimidate just about anyone into talking, but it was annoying to deal with, since it meant that, for those with a bit too much arrogance, they might forget themselves for a moment...

Still, as I looked out at the destroyed city, I looked at the ruined homes and corpse-filled streets as I considered my own actions in ordering this to happen.

A month ago, Avun had come to me with a job offer relayed to us by a Megacorperation that funded us in exchange for a protection detail on a few of their more hands-off facilities. Someone, who we had learned was this alliance, had been attacking them and several others weeks before hand, the job was to find them and ensure that it didn't happen again. The deadline on it was at least two months, but we had done it in half that time, mostly to stay on the good side of those that were giving us more money to burn. Truthfully, I just did it because it kept up the appearance of dependence, even though Sicarius was actually rather self-sufficient, what with having a few front companies with fingers in multiple markets.

Even so, we worked quickly to figure out what was behind the attacks before honing in on the aggressors. Weeks were spent carefully planning each stage of the attacks before having it all end on Zygerria. Honestly, we could have done it faster or sooner, but I wanted to make sure that everything was in place, even if only for my own sense of mind since I knew that I was, practically, going to be ordering my men to their deaths. I knew this, hell, it had been proven true when the thugs on the streets engaged my forces with RPGs that fired Thermal Detonators, all their men being armed with heavily modified Blasters that put them in the superheavy category and all of them were wearing thick armor in turn. There was even a few ad hoc tanks running around, but they proved no challenge once the Starfighters had been cleared out. After that, things had turned to being rather one-sided, oh, we still took a shit-load of casualties, but those were nothing when compared to the total destruction of every member of the Alliance that had been trying, and failing, to undermine Sicarius.

Still... It _did_ put a few things into perspective for me...

Honestly speaking, this was the first, truly massive operation that Sicarius had ever carried out. Every other one before it was one where my men could have walked through them without suffering a single injury, but this was different, especially given how the enemy had been prepared and determined to fight. Infantry, Reapers, Power Armor Pilots and even a few tanks had been destroyed by the combat that had taken place across the planet. Out of the total ten thousand soldiers needed for this Op, only needing to remove two cities from the planet and neutralize a few places with surgical orbital strikes, about a thousand of them were dead with another two thousand injured to one degree or another. Infantry had suffered the most out of that, but there were a few Reapers, nineteen in total, that had been killed. Power Armor Pilots and Tank crews were far better off, but they had still taken a beating.

But the massive death toll brought me to realize that this was my life now, as a merchant of death, and that my life could end at any point, should I get careless and sloppy.

"What do you have to report, Avun?" I asked as I felt a subtle twitch in the back of my mind, a not-so-subtle indication that I was not alone, as I felt her presence easily enough. Nearly two years of on and off combat having honed my Psionic abilities to the point that I rarely had to even think about them, I mostly used them as a habit, activating them on instinct. This had already proven to be a good thing to do, as it had saved my life more than once in the past. Turning around as I felt the sound of footsteps as a figure stepped out of the darkness, I gave a command and the armored helmet of my Hell Talon retracted to show my face to the world even as the augmented Chiss did the same.

Honestly, I found myself admiring her armor as well as the form which it concealed, the armor plating having been made of strong M.D.C materials and augmented with just as many self-repair systems as she had in her cybernetics and bionics. I found it rather understandable, given that said armor was actually a _part_ of her bionics, having the ability to retract into her arms, legs and spine as a method of slipping through any form of detection while also providing her with an impressive boast in capabilities when deployed.

Still, I could never shake the similarities that I saw when I looked at her in full armor, with her helmet up, it reminded me of a picture I had once seen for the Shadow Lady from Galaxy Saga.

"Merely that the city has been pacified and all inhabitants are either dead or have been detained for transport to the other Cartels, as per the contract and your orders. Reports from the other city have reported a similar situation, though, they have apparently had less resistance to deal with since the elimination of the HQ." She reported dutifully, standing at attention just in the corner of my eye.

"And what about the former slaves?" I asked. It was a point that I had grown rather apathetic, to a point, over the years, yes, I knew that slavery was wrong, but I had long since grown used to seeing it, along with other cruelties across the Galaxy. Whether this was a result of being exposed to it repeatedly or because of the ROB, I had no idea, all I knew was that unless it affected me, I was less than likely to do anything about it, but that didn't mean that I liked it or enjoyed seeing it happen.

"Only a select few chose to accept your offer, the rest have individually stated that they wish to join Sicarius, if only because we seem to have the capability to defend ourselves, and are willing to do so, rather than what the Republic is willing to do." She stated as I nodded, mentally wonder if Avun's own Psionic abilities hadn't played a part in those decisions. Mentally shrugging, I decided that, at this stage, it didn't matter, especially since I had my doubts that it was the worst thing I had been responsible for, either directly or indirectly. The sight of the two Shock-Whips at Avun's sides reaffirming that fact rather nicely for me.

"Very well. Have them trained and equipped, as per standard. I'll want a full report in due time once we've returned to Hades Base." I remarked as I paused in thought as I glanced back out at the destruction that I had caused, through a domino of events as I considered what to do before I turned and glanced back at Avun.

"Tell me, Avun, what do you see? What do you see when you look at this?" I asked, spreading my arms wide as I heard her walk up beside me as she looked out, on to the destruction and damage caused by the attack.

"I see the price paid by those that would go against you, an example of the power you wield and what you are capable of doing with it." She replied immediately as she came to a stop, I noted a slight hint of reverence in her tone, making me wonder about what other changes had been caused by her Psynetic implants. Still, I nodded at that, understanding the logic of her point, even thinking of how the Underworld would take this attack, though, I still planned to ensure that this would be an example not soon forgotten.

"Would you like to know what I see, Avun?" I asked softly as I looked out upon the darkened sky, the smoke filled air and the distant sight of burning ruins billowing out towers of ash and smoke. She looked at me curiously, that I could easily see as I saw her from the corner of my eye, I took that to mean that she did want to hear what I saw.

"I see a reminder of how fleeting life can be... I see a reminder that life is too short to let yourself be held back by little things like your own hesitance, fear or nerves." I stated simply as I turned to look at her from the corner of my eye, watching her reaction as she looked at me with a mixture of curiosity, confusion and interest. Sighing to myself, I turned more fully towards her as I steeled my own nerves, and fought down the little voice at the back of my head that told me not to do what I had planned as I kneeled down slightly, putting myself near her level.

After nearly a year of torturing myself with 'what ifs', I had finally had enough and decided to just throw the entire thing out the window. Whether or not I was responsible for the changes in Avun's behavior, whether this was the result of me allowing her to implant herself with M.O.M and Psynetic implants, or whether this was just how she was when she loosened the chains on her own emotions, I had stopped trying to quantify it as I looked her straight in the eye as best as I could even as I fought my own reaction to look away.

"When we get back to Hades Base... Well... Would you care to join me for dinner?" I asked awkwardly as I saw her eyes shoot wide with an unknown emotion flickering through them. I didn't have much time to consider it as Avun decided to give me her answer an instant later. I suddenly found myself nearly staggering back as Avun rammed into me at bullet-speeds, wrapping two arms around my neck as she slammed her lips into mine in a kiss that was all passion as she tried her best to effectively molest my mouth.

Hell, by the time that she finally let go of me and sashayed away, probably to organize those former-slaves that she had convinced to join Sicarius, I felt as though the only place in my mouth that her tongue had not touched was halfway down my throat.

... I honestly didn't know whether to be deeply disturbed or not that I found said experience to be enjoyable...

 **XXX**

AN: Ok, so, another chapter filled with a bit of action and things going nuts, plus that little bit at the end. Hope you enjoyed it. Until next time!


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I own nothing, this is purely for recreational purposes.

AN: Ok, due to popular demand, I have made this! Hope you enjoy it, though, keep in mind, other viewpoints will be expanded upon at a later date.

Also, **daferrad** , while I thank you for your belief in my writing skills, I'm afraid that I have my own doubts about that kind of thing.

Anyway, on with the story!

 **XXX**

I had to admit, the journey back to Hades Base was quiet and uneventful, something of a rarity in my experience. On the way back, I managed to get a look over the casualty lists and saw the damage caused by the operation, to see the full extent of how many had been killed or injured by the battle as I looked over the medical files and noted what was to be done with them. A lot of them were going to be healed, lost limbs, organs and skin replaced with bio-system replacements that were practically the same as their old limbs. However, a few others had decided to go a different path.

They had decided to undergo either partial or full conversion into combat cyborgs.

Already, even only a few hours after the attack, I was already seeing properly filed requests for augmentation surgeries to be carried out by some of them, some going for a Human-like form that would have let them pass as just being another individual while others were going for more inhuman forms. Generally, it was slowly appearing to me that my troops were fitting into a number of categories for their augments. The first was that of a Human-form one, something along the lines of Ghost in the Shell or Deus Ex: Mankind Divided; Human looking on the surface, but so clearly _not_ once you had a look underneath that, with similar abilities. The second type was the covert ones, looking something like a wingless, Humanoid Dragon with a long neck, a long tail, both being fully controllable along with talon-like toes that they could use like fingers, hidden weapons and made to be quick, quiet and utterly lethal. For them, there really wasn't much to say, they were going down a route that I had considered something akin to Metal Gear, they could be stealthy if they felt like it, with a dozen stealth systems built into them, but they could probably outfight most Cartels with armor tougher than some tanks and enough weapons to back it up. So far, they varies in size, but hadn't gone over 3.5 metres tall.

The last type, however...

They had gone for the idea of heavy, no-holds-bar combat and ran with it. Honestly speaking, no real designs, at least for this model, had come through yet, but a fair number of ideas, 'requirements' and weapon loadouts had been thrown around and included in the initial reports as they seemed to be arguing over things like the type of locomotion and the best designs to use. So far, it seemed to be a tossup between tracks, legs and Repulsorlift systems, wheels having already been discarded a while ago.

The designs, that had come through for the other two types, so far had been rather... Basic, but as we left Zygerria, and the days ticked by, I was getting reports with improved, more detailed, iterations of each design as I also got reports of the use of multiple CAD programs, aided by dumb AIs, to help ensure the designs worked well, at least on paper. Still, it would take time to flesh out the designs for these two types of combat cyborgs, and even longer to see them in active use, if only because it would take that long to thoroughly test everything to ensure it worked properly.

Silently, I mulled over that fact as I thought about a few of the other projects I had on the go. None of them were due to be finished any time soon, so I didn't see much problem in slating in these designs for trial and approval by the various AIs that I had created for the purpose of R&D.

"Forgive the intrusion, Commander, but we are half an hour out from Hades Base." I was disturbed from my thoughts by that as I glanced towards the ceiling and nodded, knowing that the gesture would be seen by the AI that helped to coordinate the ship I was currently on.

"Good to hear. Once we drop from Hyperspace, bring us in to dock and have men disembark. Prioritize the former slaves for the new accommodation and ensure that they are sorted into training groups. I want them to begin their training as soon as possible." I ordered as I glanced back around, an image projected into the room via external cameras showing the distorted world of Hyperspace as it rushed by.

"As you command." The voice stated before disappearing back into silence, probably communicating through the onboard Quantum Entanglement Communicator with the other AIs of the tactical network, looking to ensure that everything would run smoothly and without problems. I smiled at that even as I stood from my chair, datapad full of reports already forgotten as I lifted a hand, a minor bit of telekinesis and I suddenly found myself with a glass of whiskey in hand before I walked over to the projection with said glass in hand. Taking a sip, I smirked smugly as I looked outwards.

Things were changing, and I fully intended to see them change further, especially in the decades to come...

 **XXX**

Things already were changing, especially as the Galaxy looked on to see the latest happenings within the Outer Rim...

The massive military campaign of Sicarius had not gone unnoticed by many, especially those with the connections or willingness to learn of the affairs of the Outer Rim of the Galaxy. Among the Criminal Underworld, the actions of Sicarius sent a loud and clear message to any that would challenge them. Few were stupid enough to consider it a good idea to begin with, those that remained having been wiped out by the mercenary company, but this served as an example to show what strength the company held. Many now saw the massive, superpower-for-hire as a sleeping leviathan, one that was rarely displayed for the wider Galaxy except for when it came time to awaken and flex its muscles as a show of force.

Already, there was talk of the Hutts and the Black Suns seeking to further their ties to the massive military company to ally themselves more thoroughly with them as an attempt to prevent becoming targets, along with a few other, big-name, cartels. However, even then, the smaller groups around the galaxy took note as they looked at the growing strength of Sicarius, many looking to see about either allying with the new power in the Outer Rim to either steal that strength for themselves or to prevent themselves from becoming a target. The former, many knew, would only bring swift retribution if discovered while the latter, at the very least, would be seen as pragmatic and would lead to them being ignored. Still, there were the rare few, mainly freelancer, that saw Sicarius as a good option to join, something that was proven to be obvious as videos and images of their equipment started to circulated around the Underworld. Freelancers, especially those with little experience, started to flock to the growing company, looking at it as their way to fame, glory and power even though much of Sicarius was still cloaked in shadows, including the training their soldiers underwent to become so lethal.

Many Mandalorians, however, did approve of the brutal efficiency and power of these soldiers, seeing them a worthy challenge to fight, either individually or as part of a larger force.

Further afield from the Outer Rim, news of Sicarius had even managed to reach the Mid Rim and, surprisingly, the Core worlds of the Galaxy and into the heart of the Galactic Republic.

The Senate heard whispers of this growing power in the Outer Rim, many looking whispering in fear and anxiety about this, already speaking words such as 'embargo', 'blockade', arrest' and many others that would see Sicarius removed from power even as others cried and made accusations about the possibility of invasions by this new power. Organized discussions soon turned into shouting matches as each Senator started screaming for the aid and protection of the massively reduced Republic military fleet to protect their home systems from attack. Even then, no one seemed to factor in the fact that there were simply too many systems to cover effectively with so few ships, even with them numbering in the hundreds of thousands. The Senators, even with this explained, still refused to see the truth and screamed for action, demanding that Sicarius be removed from power before they became a threat to their homes, even though, for the moment, no such threat existed.

Meanwhile, as the Senate degraded into an utter mess of shouting and screaming, hidden and obvious observers looked on to the situation across the Galaxy with interest and concern, respectively.

Those hidden in the shadows, the hidden line of the Sith started by the Dark Lord, Darth Bane, looked on with interest as they saw this new group rising from virtually nothing and building itself up to create an impressively formidable force of warriors. Covert research and observations were made, information collected from contacts, informants and information brokers, theories and conclusions made even as more knowledge of the Mercenary Superpower within the outer reaches of the Galaxy.

As he watched, Darth Plagueis started to build an detailed and highly interesting picture of the group, even as he found himself further impressed by the level by which this group had managed to keep themselves hidden from the Galactic spotlight. Not only that, but these 'Reapers' deeply interested him as he considered what they were capable of and analyzed what little information he had available on them. The simplest explanation for them, and quite possibly the most likely one, was that they were Force Users taken in upon discovery throughout the Outer Rim before Jedi could reach them. It made sense, but a few things still failed to fit the picture, such as how they were being trained, who was training them and where they were being trained since, from what his meditations had revealed, they were not active within the Greater Galaxy and seemed hidden from his sight.

Sitting in the shadows, the Dark Lord of the Sith smiled even as he observed the happenings of the Core World again, amused by it even as he made plans to find out more about Sicarius, such as what they were capable of even as he idly noted the file he was looking at. Specifically, the person on it: The Rancor Hunter.

However, on the opposite end of the scale, the Jedi sat within their Temple, feeling lost and unnerved that such a large group could appear without their notice, even more so when they came to the _obvious_ conclusion that these Reapers were Force-sensitives that had been secretly taken and trained by those in Sicarius without their knowledge. The thought was deeply worrying for the Order, prompting a review of all the Force-sensitive children they had on record who may be able to be brought into the Order at an older age.

As a result, they were only left in confusion and deeply disturbed by the fact that none of the Force-sensitive children they had ear-marked for the Order had disappeared, none of the Jedi Watchers having seen anything that could have been considered as a kidnapping attempt upon their wards. At this point, the Jedi were confused, disturbed and cautious of Sicarius as they considered their best option, one of which was to send a group of Jedi to investigate this new group and discover the truth, something that many found difficult to consider since, upon a review of the history of the company, they discovered the founder of it.

The Rancor Hunter.

The Rancor Hunter was not a man that they wished to engage, memories of his actions during the Yam'rii-Kalee conflict were still fresh, not to mention that a quick search showed his track record of hunting down either Fallen Jedi or those that had left the Order and acquired a Bounty on themselves for any number of reasons. A fair majority of them had been done by him, not to mention his actions to kill two Jedi masters, something that had made the Jedi Order even more hesitant to approach him as they believed him to be a threat or, at least, hostile to their Order.

With the experience and backing he had now, many considered it a fool's errand to approach him with anything less than the combined force of the Republic Navy and with the intent to apprehend him for Kidnapping, Warmongering and a number of other charges. Still, those voices were few in number even as others chose to meditate on the matter, believing that rushing into something, especially in light of recent events, was only going to cause them to make an even bigger mistake.

Regardless, that didn't change the way things were...

... Nor did it help the growing minority that lurked within the Order that whispered that the Rancor Hunter was simply one of an ancient breed, the opposite of the Jedi and the mortal enemy of the Order itself.

A Sith Lord.

 **XXX**

Hades Base was a massive space station.

It was built in a single, out of the way system with no known Hyperspace routes to it, Sicarius had spent months mapping out a way to the system at the outer edge of the Outer Rim, ensuring that we were not easily followed and mapping out several other systems and escape routes, should things come to the worst. The system itself was oddly barren, a single blue supergiant at the core of the system with at least three belts of asteroids gathered around it, the remnants of a few dozen planets that might have existed at one point, but were now long gone. Said Asteroids were absolutely full of resources that I had been exploiting to my advantage as I had planned out expansions and upgrades to my forces in the future.

As for the base itself, it looked like an upscaled version of the Mars Shipyard from CoD: Infinite Warfare. Twenty kilometres in diametre around the outer sections while the inner core was over two kilometres in diametre with a length, or height, of about eighteen kilometres. Around it, I saw the swarms of small satellites that floated around, scanning the space around the station for any kind of intruder or hazard for any ships going or coming from the station. All of which were armed with a range of weapons, along with the station itself. Even then, I knew that the appearance of the station was an illusion, the outside had been completed first before moving inwards, core systems having been prioritized while everything else was being filled in by robots working around the clock. Even then, a lot of sections had been completed and were already in use, such as the nano-fabricators, mining bays, accommodations and even the shipyard.

That thought caused me to look to the section devoted to act as a shipyard, a massive, skeletal frame surrounding a series of half-finished ships that ranged in size from just under two hundred metres to ones that were over a kilometre in length. A fair number of these ships were nearly complete, while others were just waiting to be named, crewed and given their marching orders before being moved in order to make space for other vessels to be built. A quick thought and I had a full list of those ships, number in at a total of thirty two ships out of the current production phase of almost eighty ships. Though, I noted that many of them were still a fair bit away from being ready for active use, mostly because they hadn't yet had a shakedown cruise, nor had they been field tested other than as individual systems.

AIs were good at simulating things, but simulations could only get you so far since they didn't factor in a few things that, to computer logic, were utterly impossible. Magic, Psionics and the Force being a few examples.

"We are approaching the Hades. Docking Collar A-6 is currently active and we are being guided in via Tractor Beams. Estimated time until docking is complete: Three minutes and seventeen seconds." I heard as I continued to look at the station through the image projection. The black armored construct hovering in the void as it slowly grew larger in my vision, something I was aware of as I considered what to do next.

"Two years... It's amazing to think that so much could be done in so short a time..." I muttered to myself as I continued to look out the 'window', taking a sip from my glass of alcohol, however, before I could drink it, I was interrupted by a high-pitched voice that caused me to freeze still.

"And just imagine what heights you'll stand at in the coming years. Nowhere near my own level, of course, but it'll still be something when compared to the backwards idiots that one can generously call the 'natives'." I heard as I slowly turned to glance over my shoulder, only to discover that someone was sitting in my chair. Said individual was actually a bit of a surprise, since I recognized said individual, knowing that she was likely to be a few thousand years passed dead. She had taken the form of a Twi'lek, grey skinned with red-maroon markings down her head-tails and wearing what looked like an armored corset with a hell of a big cleavage window. I couldn't help the half-smirk at the form before me, if only because I recognized what the being in question was trying to get across.

"I have a few ideas..." I remarked as I took a sip of my drink, Corellian Brandy that had been aged for a few decades, before I took a seat, using Telekinesis to craft a new chair from carbon atoms in the air, an old trick, but dead useful when you applied it creatively.

"Oh, I know. Truly, it means little to me in the long run, but it is always amusing to watch from time to time, as was your latest works." The ROB, having taken the form of the Despot Queen, Hadiya, stated with a cruel smirk as she regarded me with a predatory glint in her eyes, leaning back in her stolen chair as she did so.

"Well, I'm glad that I could, at least, be useful as a source of entertainment for you." I couldn't help but quip back at it, mostly because I knew how true that statement was. Suddenly, I blinked and found a table between us, a bottle filled with a silver liquid on it, along with two glasses as I watched the liquid pour itself out of the bottle before resting itself in the glasses. A moment later, and I found my old glass replaced with a new one, filled with this shimmering liquid. Glancing at it in no small amount of trepidation, I glanced back at the ROB, who only looked amused.

"Oh, don't worry, it won't kill you. It's something I picked up a while ago, I thought it would serve well for celebrating your recent... _Successes_." She remarked, taking a sip as I glanced back at it before taking a sip in turn.

The instant it touched my tongue, my eyes shot wide as the burn filled my mouth and travelled slowly down my throat, it was pleasant, blissfully so, but the sheer potency of it had caught me by surprise, almost making me choke on it before I forced that down with a bit of focus, aided by my Psionics, mainly Biokinesis. A moment later, the burn passed and I was left just as clear-headed as before, blinking in surprise as I looked back at the ROB in surprise for the effects of the drink before taking another sip. Now that I knew what to expect, it was rather nice, if only because the effects didn't almost make me waste it.

"Nice drink." I remarked as it smirked at that statement, already having finished its own drink as I turned to regard it.

"I thought you might like it. Though, I think you know that I didn't come here to _only_ share a drink with you." I nodded at that, knowing that things weren't that simple. A moment later, the glasses and bottle were gone, replaced with an empty table that only had a pair of cards on the table before me, causing me to look at them curiously as I considered what they were. Both cards were like oversized playing cards, about A5 sized with their backs visible, said backs were highly decorated with complex fractal designs and a grayscale colour scheme that dipped into black and white at points. Glancing back at the ROB, I saw it smirk at me before it spoke simply.

"I enjoyed that last operation that you underwent quite a bit, the use of psychological warfare to rattle those peasants was rather impressive, as was the use of Shock and Awe tactics alongside a Blitz of their entire holdings over a spiral arm. Also, I quite enjoyed the role that your Concubine played in it, which is why one of these rewards is for her, something that I believe that you will find rather... _Useful_ in the future." I glanced up at that, eyes narrowing at that.

"... I thought the prizes were sent to me, not my subordinates?" I asked, trying to stay away from the claim that Avun was a Concubine of some kind, disgust flaring at the idea as I tried to keep my thoughts away from that subject, especially given my own resolution to not think of the 'what ifs' of the situation. The ROB smirked widely at that, clearly knowing what I was thinking and seemed to find it amusing.

"No, though I did say that you wouldn't get any unless you took part in battles. I said nothing about not rewarding your servants for being obedient and entertaining tools." The ROB shot back as I sighed, clearly showing what kind of ROB I was looking at since it was, once more, shown that it really didn't give a damn about morality, it just used it as a way to poke fun at me and try to goad me into doing things, especially since it seemed to be whacking _that_ particular button rather hard as I tried not to let it show, even though I felt one corner of my mouth twitch at the insinuation and implications of those words.

I wasn't a fucking slaver, damnit!

"Alright... So, what is Avun getting?" I asked, curious as the ROB _had_ mentioned that whatever it was, it _would_ be useful to me in the long run, even as I tried to avoid other implied meanings with the ROB's words. At my question, it smiled coyly at me as it gestured to the card on my right, I looked at with a quirked eyebrow before hesitantly reaching for it, curious as to the result of what it might be. Flipping it over, I saw what was on the other side as I couldn't stop myself from rearing back at the words written on it.

 _Talents of a Technojacker._

I could feel how wide my eyes were at those words. A quick scan through my mental achieve showing me that, indeed, I had no knowledge about the two things even though I knew what both were from my own memories. Both came from the setting of Splicer, the latter being a genocidal intelligence with seven personalities that wanted to wipe out humanity, from what I could remember, and had created a nanobot plague to help do it. The nanobot plague made it impossible for Humans to even go near metal, as the nanobots would make any metal object come to life and attack the Human, or any mammal in general. However, Technojackers were the exception to that, being that they could control the nanobots within themselves and use them to control machines, form layers of armor and render themselves unaffected by the nanobot plague. I leaned back as I remembered those bits of information while considered what this could mean for me in the future as I glanced at the still-smiling ROB before glancing at the other card then back at the ROB, who gestured for me to flip it with amusement gleaming in its eyes.

"Well, go on, I'm sure you'll find it extremely... _beneficial_ to you..." It breathed coyly at me as I looked back down at the card before flipping it over. The instant I did so, and saw the words on the card, I snapped my vision up to where the ROB was seated, to glare at the jackass being, only to see an empty seat as I heard the echo of laughter filling the room as I glared at the card.

"It seems that you have an annoying sense of humor..." I muttered to myself as I rubbed my face, still looking at the card and what it said on it, a small icon above the words that looked like an upside-down pentagram. It didn't help when I noticed the fact that the ship had already docked, a quick check having confirmed that the ship had been docked for the better part of three minutes now.

 _Servitude of a Seven-minded Machine_

Bloody fuck! Why the hell couldn't I catch a fucking break!?

 **XXX**

Avun smiled to herself as she stalked through the busy corridors of Hades base, enjoying the feeling of simply walking through the base, as, to her, it represented something far greater than an hunk of Mega-Damage armor plating and weapon turrets, but the start.

The start of a new Era that would see Michael standing at the top of the food-chain, with complete control over anything that he set his sights on. She had seen this, dreamt of this happening and of watching worlds falling to the might of the army she was building for him, especially given the recent events of Zygerria which had seen a massive influx of new blood to Sicarius. Already, she had worked them over, having had a few of the Reapers help her to get their compliance to working for her Master while also instructing them on how to behave themselves. As soon as they were properly trained and equipped, that would mean that the forces of Sicarius would have grown by another few thousand, if not more, given how Michael was having her _recruit_ from other sources as well.

Moving through the gaggle of people that were moving around, all of them parting to make way for her, the Chiss smiled at that as she made her way to her room, her thoughts slowly turning towards the prospect of what Michael had promised her as she opened the door to her room with a thought projected through her Telemechanic ability before the door closed and locked behind her. An instant later, she stalked into the middle of her room as she glanced around, noting a dozen datapads lying around a nearby desk with more stacked off to one side and a few dozen other devices lying around. An AI-driven bed lay opposite her normal bed, which was the original one that Michael had created for her, still used to implant new augments that caught her fancy even as she worked on ideas for more. Next to that, she saw a pair of things that caused her to smile, the first being a cupboard built into the wall, a literal walk-in cupboard while the other was a full, floor-to-ceiling mirror that allowed her to see herself.

A smile came across her face as she saw that before a thought caused her armor to retract back into her partially-converted body. Within seconds, she stood before the mirror almost as naked as the day she was born, the only exception being the thong she wore around her waist and between her legs. The Chiss looked over herself with a thoughtful look, her mind turning back to the words Michael had said to her back on Zygerria, and the implications of them as she smiled widely, hopeful of some of those implications as a thought caused her cupboard to open. Inside of it, the Chiss saw a dozen outfits that she had gathered, along with some of the items that had caught her fancy, such as the two shock whips she had picked up on Zygerria, which had already been dropped off in her room by the laboring machines of the station.

Glancing back at herself in the mirror, Avun looked at herself once more as she slowly grasped her hips before sliding her hands up, over her body until she grasped her breasts, feeling the flesh between her fingers for a moment.

"I wonder... If Michael truly wishes for me to take my place by his side, what would he wish me to wear?" She muttered to herself as she glanced back at the various outfits, ranging from formal dresses, casual wear and even a few things worn by some Twi'lek dancers that had caught her fancy as she considered how much Michael would enjoy seeing her in said items of clothing. Such thoughts were common to her, the obsession with her friend, now master in all but name, had grown stronger and stronger with each week that past, not significantly, but that growth had piled up quickly as she changed. Said changes were known to the Chiss, who happily welcomed them as her obsession grew, becoming a fanatical follower of her obsession, and the focus of said obsession.

However, as she contemplated what to wear for the up coming... _feast_ , she suddenly stopped as she felt something... _Change_.

Her awareness of herself suddenly shifted, the number of sensor inputs coming from her internal systems suddenly became more complete, more thorough and more complex as knowledge of advanced technologies flooded into her mind. An understanding settled into her mind as she looked at her hand, knowing that, under the faux-skin was no longer a purely mechanical device, but a hybrid system augmented and capable of being reshaped by her will through the Nanobots that now ran through her body and blood. It was with that, that the Chiss also knew what she had been turned into: A Technojacker, one with the power to control a swarm of nano-machines that inhabited their bodies, allowing them to construct armor, interface with machines via cables they constructed or touched, and could control said machines via said contact or cables. Not to mention the fact that the nanobot could evolve with her usage of them to become more specialized in given areas of use. Suddenly, she stopped and felt her joy at these changes spike when she felt another piece of information settle into her mind, only feeding her obsession as her heart fluttered.

It was because of Michael that she gained this gift.

Resolve set as she looked at herself once more before a wide smirk split her features as an idea came to her.

She truly hoped that Michael would enjoy it!

 **XXX**

"Greetings, Master." That was the greetings I obtained the moment I walked into my office, spoken by seven distinctly female voices as I saw the blast-door open more fully into my office to reveal seven women, all holograms as I spotted a cylinder built into the room, directly over my chair and seemingly merged with the ceiling itself. The office itself was rather big, a replica of the room with which the Illusive Man had controlled and directed Cerberus from and it reflected that with a mirror-like quality to the smooth, shiny black ceiling and floor. In the middle of the room, there was a single chair, my chair, that would usually be surrounded by holographic interfaces with which I could work through while the massive image of the blue supergiant in the system was projected into the room, being the main source of light, with a few, subtle, exceptions.

Still, even as I enjoyed the feeling of my office, I turned to see the seven figures, all standing around the chair as I advanced and narrowed my eyes as I looked at each of them, feeling like ROB was, quite clearly, being an ass when he/she/it decided to give each personality of the machine appearances like _those_.

"Uh, hi...?" I said back lamely as I quickly moved to my seat, the AIs seemingly un-bothered by it as I took a seat, mentally considering breaking out a bottle of the good stuff for the migraine that I was sure was going to follow.

"... OK, you mind introducing yourselves and what you do?" I asked, partially because I wanted to know how their functions had translated and also so that I could put names to faces, as it were.

"I am Gaia. I function as the primary means by which you can carry out biological research, colonization and terraforming systems of various design." Came the voice of the first one, looking very much like a Poison Ivy look-alike, with bright red hair, green eyes and what looked like a one-piece swimsuit made out of a hedge. I nodded as neutrally as I could before turning to the next one, mentally noting that particular area as it differed from the original Gaia a fair bit, but at least it meant I didn't need to worry about an AI fragment with delusions of grandeur.

"I am Freya. I shall serve as the primary means of aiding in organizing and managing the logistics of any system I have control over, along with streamlining production supply through various means." Spoke the next one, looking strangely like Talia Al Ghul, the one from Batman: Arkham City. Once more, I nodded neutrally before moving on to the next one. Still not entirely sure about the outfit, but I was willing to go with it, though I mentally wondered if the look was ROB's idea of an ironic joke... Maybe?

"Hecate. Prototyping, production and research." Came the words of the next, a near mirror copy of the Engineer, Angela Spica, from Wildstorm. Her face neutral and she was happily standing around, her projection lacking any form of clothing and looking like a chrome woman. I nodded before turning to the next one.

"Ishtar, Master. I serve you as a military advisor and campaign coordinator for both tactical and strategic environments, both on planets and in space." The Military AI stated, allowing me to take in her appearance as I raised an eyebrow. Now, I knew that ROB was pulling my chain since the greater being had decided it would be a brilliant idea to make her look like Artemis from when she teamed up with the Red Hood n DC comics, the Amazon, not the god, by the way.

"Kali, My Lord." Said the next one, I raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, guessing what she did considering that, if I remembered correctly, she was the one that made the nanobot-animated Necrobots that were, effectively, undead skeletons. For how she looked, I was actually surprised in that she looked like Bruce Wayne, not the standard one, but the one from Earth -11 that ended up fighting and winning a war against Atlantis, and also happened to be a woman herself, rather interesting, that.

"Greetings, My Lord, I am Lilith. I work to spread doubt and sow the seeds of dread in your enemies, simply say the word and they shall be properly... _Distracted_..." Came the voice of the sixth as I looked at this one, almost taking a step back even though I was in a step bolted to the floor as the hologram was almost straddling my waist as I looked at it as it winked at me and spoke in a seductive tone. This one, I guessed, was the one that dealt with Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence, though, that could mean anything, though, I thought that, for once, ROB was spot on with her appearance.

Circe from New Earth.

I nodded as I saw her smile, stepping back into line with the others as I turned my attention to the last AI fragment that had yet to introduce herself, already with an idea of who this one was, but wanting to confirm it for myself.

"And, who are you?" I asked as I saw the holographic projection smile at me. She smiled at me as I took in the appearance of Faora Hu-Ul from the Prime Earth of DC comics and saw her wearing the black armor suit that I vaguely remembered. She took a step forwards before, unlike the others, bowing to me as I felt an eyebrow rise at that.

"I am Eve, Master. I serve you in whatever capacity that you desire. Merely ask, and I shall carry out a task to the best of my abilities." She stated as I got the feeling that she was, for all intents and purposes, a Secretary for me out of the seven AI fragments that made up what was left of N.E.X.U.S. Pinching the bridge of my nose at that thought, I mentally tried to stave off what was coming, as I knew quite well that I had a headache on the way as I pressed a small console on the armrest of my chair even as I nodded to myself.

"Alright... Thank you for the introductions. Now, I want all of you looking over the current systems and files in said systems to see what you can find. If you find something that catches your interest, do as you wish with it so long as you leave a copy of the original for me to compare the improvements or changes with. Send them to me in a report to look over at a later time, the same goes for any ideas that you get from looking over the information onboard the station and through the holonet terminals, but stay within the station's network and don't wander too far. Eve, stay behind." I commanded as six of the seven fragments disappeared in a shower of dark purple sparks, leaving with a 'As you command, Master' between them, as I turned to the last fragment before giving my orders.

"Could you please tell the chiefs to set up my private dining hall and get ready for a meal for two? Also, could you please bring me a bottle of Corellian Brandy... I think a 900 Ruus would be a good choice." I remarked as I saw the AI bow before disappearing without another word as I slumped back into my chair in a mixture of exhaustion and annoyance as I glared up at the ceiling.

I knew that fucker was watching me, and I knew he was probably laughing at me as well...

Fuck him...

 **XXX**

AN: Ok, so there you have it. Hope you enjoyed it and until next time!


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I own nothing, this is purely for recreational purposes.

AN: Ok, this is finished and ready to go, though, a note before I continue.

No, I have not abandoned my other fics, at least, not those that are still alive. My muse for them has currently hit a brick wall, which is why I'm writing this, since I've been unable to make any headway with Hell-hole for a while now.

Anyway, on with the story!

 **XXX**

Glancing around my office, I leaned back, mentally counting down the time until my dinner with Avun even as I checked over a few things, mostly out of a belief that they needed to be checked and double checked. Along with that, the seven AIs that had been released into the network were already sending back reports as fast as I could look them over. Gaia seemed to focus on ideas for colonies, either planet or space based, though there was also a fair amount of ideas for terraforming devices, ranging from singular machines that could be landed on a planet to a whole network of machines. Not only that, but Gaia also seemed rather interested in the creation of biological and chemical augmentations, mostly for my troops, though, I had seen a few that were subtly being directed my way. Freya had come up with a complete redesign of the current logistical network and created a new floor plan for the sections of Hades still under construction, aiming to make them more effective even as she worked with Ishtar to make them just as defendable. Ishtar, in turn, was also working with Hecate to redesign and upgrade certain pieces of military hardware, though, she seemed to also spend a fair amount of time working to create backup plans for the defense of Hades station, along with a vast list of dossiers that detailed the strengths, weaknesses and resources available to them. Such information was given to Ishtar by Lilith, who was busy redesigning the entire Intelligence apparatus of Sicarius to better suit herself, then again, I was hardly surprised by that, though I did admit that her results were impressive.

Sicarius had few actual informants, we primarily worked to gather intelligence through hacking/slicing through network security and taking what we wanted since so few seemed to consider the potential risks of their networks being compromised. Still, we did work through a few information brokers and informants, but the physical network was nowhere near as advanced as the vast network of hidden monitor software hidden throughout the Holonet.

Still, getting back to the AIs, Kali seemed to be spending her time looking through, of all things, the medical dictionaries and indexes for any and every race she could find, seemingly fixated on finding out how to kill every race in existence in both the most efficient and most brutal ways imaginable. Opposite to all the others, however, was Eve, who seemed content to merely keep herself out of sight and wait for me to call her to action, a single report had been sent to me by her to inform me that the preparations for the night were underway. Eve had also started looking over job offers, collating the data that Lilith was gathering and slowly building complete briefings for certain jobs and outlining possible outcomes, mostly in terms of politics, economics and logistics, but nothing more.

Finally, the one that had caught my attention the most, was Hecate herself. Hecate, while working with the others, was also working through her own stuff. Namely, redesigning certain elements of the warships that I was having built in the shipyards around Hades station. Most of the stuff she did was simple things; Better integration between Rift, Machine and SW technologies, smoothing out a few problems that wouldn't have been noticed until they actually became a problem further down the line, altering software for the sensors and targeting systems to make them more accurate at longer ranges, that kind of thing. However, there were a few things she had done which, in all honesty, were utterly brilliant as she figured out ways of turning random concept ideas I had jotted down and turn them into actual designs and integrate them into ships.

The best part was that changing the ships to fit these alterations was actually doable, even for the group of ships that was soon to be complete since, for them, most of the changes were minor things that wouldn't require a complete overhaul. However, for the larger classes of ships, the skeletal structures could be changed and altered easily enough, with the robotic workforce being re-tasked to the work allowing for efficient usage of resources.

As such, I found myself marveling at the design of the upgraded Corvette that I was looking at before me, spinning around slowly as a 3D holographic projection. Looking it over, I smiled as I read over the notes that Hecate had provided for me even as I noted the changes, upgrades and new systems that had been installed.

The new Corvette was called the 'Covert assault/Patrol/Strike vessel-Corvette Iteration 1784-D', though, Hecate had apparently included a short-hand name for the vessel, calling it the Dagger-class Corvette. Said ship was a massive, sleek, hunk of metal that looked like a two tined dagger blade with no handle or guard. There was no organic lines to it, no smooth curves, just flat surfaces, hard edges and featureless metal. The jagged shape was made to be virtually impossible to spot within the void of space, even at close range with the hull being comprised of a number of sensor-absorbent materials and Thermo-kinetic armor plating several metres thick, not to mention smart paints and holographic projectors. Along with that, the ship was equipped with a mixture of passive and active ECM systems that worked in different ways.

The passive ECM worked to prevent the ship from being spotted in the first place, using a number of sensor, electronic, magnetic and gravitational masking systems. Thermal and infarred systems were covered by the Thermo-kinetic armor, that effectively allowed the ship to blend in with the ambient temperature of the surrounding area as a byproduct of its design to disperse heat and kinetic attacks, making bullets, railgun shells and energy attacks far less effective as well. Active ECM, on the other hand, was a bit different in that it actively blocked the ship from being targeted by creating decoy signatures, sensor ghosts, and hacking sensor returns to make it seem like the ship wasn't really where it should have been. Not only that, but it worked to fowl any form of targeted munitions, such as Missiles and also incorporated elements of Cyber-Warfare to gain an advantage over others.

Any fight with this ship was not going to be a fair one, especially since it would fade in and out, attacking from different angles and being as hard as possible to spot before going in for the kill, especially given that these things were planned to operate in groups ranging from pairs all the way up to wolf-packs of sixteen ships or more, either used as a raiding force or a small petrol group. Not only that, but these ships punched _way_ above their weight class with Plasma Beams, Particle Beams, Lasers, Railguns and Missile batteries all set up around the ship. The Particle Beams were mounted between the tins, a triple-barreled array that could fire an impressive barrage in a short amount of time with a range of over 200,000 kilometres. Plasma Beams were for close-in work as they only had a range of about 50,000 kilometres, which was still pretty damned effective when compared to the limited range of most Heavy Turbolasers, which was somewhere around 20,000 kilometres before the bolts of Plasma started to lose their integrity before failing entirely and falling apart after another 5,000 kilometres.

Lasers and Railguns were primarily used for close-in work as well, lasers being primarily used for fast moving targets, such as missiles and torpedoes, while Railguns would either single-out heavy fighters and bombers and would either target them directly or through up a wall of flak in a moment. Lastly, the missiles were, probably, the longest ranged weapons on the small vessel, with a range of roughly 500,000 kilometres and armed with a mix of warheads ranging from HE, Plasma, or even Fusion Bombs. They were fast moving weapons that were launched by partial coilguns into space before accelerated by their own thrusters, though, all of them were dangerous by being agile, heavily armed and having a capacity for high-level self-guidance through the usage of an onboard AI.

All of that, combined, told of a ship that punched well above its weight class, especially since it could take hits and keep on going, with a damage control/self-repair system inspired by the Regeneration nodes of the Dominators that used a colony-like arrangement of hand-sized spider-machines to fix, repair and maintain each of these ships. These things were capable of using a mixture of fabrication technologies and nanotech to rapidly fix any damage that might have been caused by a hit to the ship. However, my favorite addition was the fact that these little machines were programmed to defend their ships viciously, meaning that any boarders would be in for a _very_ bad day.

Still, even for all of that, the Dagger-class was the smallest, at about 190 metres long, and, dare I say, weakest ship that Hecate had redesigned, taking elements of the technologies I had downloaded into the database within Hades station and putting them to good use, seeming to favor the Thermo-kinetic armor of Naruni Enterprises along with heavy usage of ECM and an equally heavy weapon loadout, all equipped with enough redundancies that the ship could have been blown to hell and back, half of it melted off, and it would still be ready to fight. Not to mention the sheer number of Variable Force Field systems incorporated into the ship was just insane.

Frankly speaking, if I saw one of these ships fall in a fight, I fully expected it to be either a trick, or a result of being outnumbered fifty to one and being boxed in by said ships with nowhere to go.

Something I _highly_ doubted would ever happen, but you never know.

And that was _without_ mentioning the other designs the Crafter had remade, or created from scratch...

 **XXX**

Avun smiled as she walked through the corridors of Hades Station, enjoying the feeling of knowing that she had had a hand in the creation of the vast complex and the group that now manned it. Walking through the halls of Hades, she looked around to see her work flourish as fully trained soldiers constantly patrolled the corridors, armored blast doors and bulk heads were positioned every few metres with hidden Force Field generators and extendable cover sections. Entire areas were built simply to act as kill zones and bottle necks to invaders with hidden weapon turrets secreted away in the floor, walls and ceiling of every corridor.

It was paranoid, but it was secure and ensured that any invade would _not_ be able to expand far from their point of entry, at least, not without horrible loses and enough men to throw at them that entire corridors would be blocked with bodies.

Either way, Avun was happy with her work even as her absent thoughts returned to the present, causing her already smiling face to beam in happiness at what she had to look forwards to as she turned a corner and approached a door guarded by a number of Reapers that stood at attention. Avun smiled at them and they let her through without issue, having already checked her through the internal sensors and ensured that she was no threat to the occupant of the station well before she even reached the door.

That said, a few steps before she would have collided with the door, it retracted into the wall, allowing her to look into the chamber beyond as her eyes instantly landed on the man within as she saw him standing by the projection of the outer space around Hades, observing the space around the station and seemingly watching as the Corvettes of the Sicarius fleet were being put together with slow, methodical steps as directed by the AI mind that now governed them. Still, even as she noted the view, her mind remained focused on the man before her even as she noted the door close silently behind her, her eyes transfixed and her smile wide and beaming. Even then, her steps were smooth as she slowly approached next to him, noting that he was holding a glass cup of what her augments identified as Corellian Brandy, and a particularly potent batch at that. She stayed there, silent, as she wondered what was going through Micheal's mind as she noted he wore his usual attire, not that she expected much else since she actually enjoyed seeing him as such, enjoying the figure that the clothing cut. However, she mentally prayed that he would enjoy the clothing that she had chosen for the events to come, especially for... _Desert_...

"... Quite a view, don't you think?" He asked suddenly, drawing Avun out of her thoughts as she glanced over to him before looking back over the impressive view.

"Very, a rather good showing of just how far your forces have come and just how powerful you have become as a result." Avun answered instantly, truthfully and believing it completely as Michael remained silent for several moments as he took a sip from his glass.

"One could argue that, but I've always liked to think that it is less 'my power' and more 'the power of Sicarius'. Yes, I may lead them now, but no one lives forever. I have little doubt that, one day, I'll die and someone else will have to fill in my shoes. So you'll have to forgive me for not thinking with my ego." Michael stated, her last remark coming across jokingly as Avun offered a slight giggle at that, partly out of incredulousness at the mere _thought_ that Michael would no longer be there to lead them. To the Chiss, such a thought was something she couldn't comprehend, her implant-derived obsession having built her new existence around Michael to the point that she simply could _not_ imagine him dying in any way, shape or form.

And, as such, she took his words to mean something they either weren't or something that wasn't meant to the same degree. She took his words to mean that he was ever humble in his position of power, knowing the strength that he could command with a few words and feeling that, even with it, he had no need to brag about it. Avun found such an example inspiring as she had known many examples that would have become complacent and bragged after getting even a _fraction_ of the power her Lord possessed at his finger tips.

"I understand, though, I would argue that such thoughts are merely humble on your part. Ever member of Sicarius knows that you are the only reason that all of this was even possible, they know that you are the lynchpin to holding them all together and standing firm in the face of a Galaxy that would either see them wiped out or imprisoned simply for marching under your banner." The Chiss stated seductively as she took a few slow, methodical steps forwards, growing closer to Michael as she remained in his visual blind spot even as she continued speaking.

"Ask anyone within Sicarius what they would do if they were to fight for you, to defend you against attack? And I can honestly say that not a single one of them will say anything except that they would fight to their last, dying breath for you, Michael." She watched him absorb that information, his hand stopping mid-motion as he went to sip his Brandy once more before taking it away from his lips, his head leaned towards the projection while she guessed his eyes were directed downwards as well. The silence stretched out between the two, neither seemingly uncomfortable about it even as it continued to dominate the room before it was broken by Michael speaking once more.

"... I did not ask that they would die for me, I did not ask that they find something worth dying for. Finding something worth dying for is easy, with half a dozen causes in the Galaxy being worthy of such a thing. No, I only asked what I've always asked of them, to fight by my side and to find something worth _living_ for." He stated simply as Avun felt herself being enraptured by those words even as she watched him turn towards her, stopping for a moment to regard her even as she saw the subtlest of signs to show his shock, the widening of the eyes, the slight opening of the jaw and the faintest of flushes across his cheeks that even she could barely see with her augmented senses. That reaction alone was enough to draw a smile from her face as her heart leapt in excitement at his appreciation of her attire.

"... Wow, nice dress." Michael seemed to mutter aloud in a stunned stupor, drawing another beaming smile from the Chiss as she considered her own attire. A deep purple dress reaching down to her ankles with a cut down one side from the waist on the left side, exposing her left leg and showing off the faux-skin of said leg. The dress was without a back, reaching up from the waist and wrapping around her neck to secure the fabric in place even as a cut was left from the neck to halfway down her stomach, granting her Lord a generous view of her cleavage and skin, as she intended for him to have. The entire outfit was picked because it emphasized her figure so well and complimented her skin tone and eye colour so well, something that, clearly, her Lord appreciated before he shook himself out of his stupor, seemingly returning to the waking world as a side door opened to allow suit-wearing servers to walk into the room with a series of trolleys and trays between them as they moved to the table in the room. Said table was lavishly setup for a dinner, as though it was setup for a meal between a king and a queen, something that only caused Avun's mind to spin faster as she considered her plans and her duty to her Lord.

"I believe that it is time for dinner, don't you think?" He asked as he gestured towards the table with a half bow and was careful to only look her directly in the eyes. She smiled in return as they advanced on the table, the first meal already being served by the servers.

Already, she was looking forwards to _dessert_...

 **XXX**

Slipping through the network systems of the Hades, N.E.X.U.S looked over the constant stream of files, it's fragments working overtime to carry out their duties as it remained aware of what it's fragments did even as they separated from it and were, in fact, the only way it currently had with which to interact with non-digital beings outside of a computer network.

Currently, the massive intelligence was looking over a dozen reports at once, doing a final proof-read of them as they were assigned a priority by which the Master could view them as he wished. All of them were to be made available to him, but none of them were truly important enough to disrupt his current schedule. Mostly just status reports, updated iterations of previous reports that were changed and merged with the originals before being resent with the changes highlighted, along with a new ideas being supplied by the Hecate-fragment as it dove into the vast library of information that their Master had, apparently, downloaded into the computer network as a method of better observation and for research purposes.

Oh, N.E.X.U.S knew that the Hecate-fragment loved what it saw, even if the, to organics, emotionless intelligence fragment was stoic, at best. The AI fragment had dove into what was called the 'Knowledge Vault' with reckless abandon and had started digging through file after file after file in wild attempts to figure out the incredible technologies that it saw within each file. Ranging from the Hyper Sensors of the Dominators and the Phase Tech of the Prometheans, to the technological secrets of the Coalition States and the genius of ARCHIE Three. Even then, the Hecate-fragment had only been able to understand and replicate _some_ of the various technologies as it worked to understand them better. One example being the Regeneration Node of the Dominators, a large device that used a mixture of nanobots and energy-to-matter conversion systems to rapidly repair a ship back to full operational status.

N.E.X.U.S had watched with a mixture of what could pass for amusement and shared frustration as it watched the Hecate-fragment repeatedly try to figure out the advanced Hyper-technology with little success, however, even with that, the AI fragment had learned enough to be able to create a crude system inspired by the work of art.

The Iteration 23 Hyper-swarm was the latest design for said system, using a colony-like base structure as a home for tens of thousands of hand-sized, spider-like repair drones that were all equipped with nanobots to aid in self-repair of ships along with a small reserve of matter that could rapidly be used to repair the systems of the ship. The colony-hive also factored into this, working as a maintenance and refueling bay, and method of creating new drones when others were destroyed, allowing the machines to cannibalize themselves in order to better repair the ship. The Hyper-swarm Drones, in turn, would repair and maintain the colony-hive using their nano-tech tools in a constantly perpetuating cycle that would ensure that both would keep on working at peak efficiency. However, the Hecate-fragment had not been satisfied with just that, consulting the Ishtar-fragment to help her turn the Hyper-swarm into something else entirely.

After the two were done, the iteration 27 Hyper-swarm had been created, with a major software upgrade that turned them from unseen and unacknowledged maintenance and damage control workers, into that, plus a truly vicious anti-boarding system that took their nano-tech tools and turned them into a method of literally ripping intruders apart and scavenging them for raw materials to be broken down to aid in repairs. Furthermore, the Hyper-swarms were augmented with additional equipment such as Consta-Grav thrusters for limited flight and even limited combat capabilities in the form of being able to 'spit' corrosive nanotech at enemies that would turn them into nothing but a soup of raw materials for their usage.

The Master had already seen this, and had immediately ordered that the technology be integrated into every vessel in the Sicarius fleet, along with the Hades Station. This simple action had led to the Hecate-fragment expanding its work to cover other things, having found pride in its work as the Master acknowledged it's work as being worth of such praise.

Working with that, the Hecate-fragment had worked to improve weapon systems, Variable Force Fields, ECM systems, engines and a dozen other fields with a primary focus on the first three. For weapons, she had taken the concept of Naruni Plasma Beam weapons and improved them, creating better magnetic fields to contain the beam of energetic matter along with a better acceleration system to allow for greater range and accuracy for a ship-mounted weapon. The beam-like nature of the weapon actually aided it, as the conductive nature of the beam allowed the magnetic field to flow through it as it travelled, up to a point, extending it well beyond what the Blaster weaponry of the locals were capable of. For the Variable Force Fields, the Hecate-fragment looked into ways of building complex, multi-redundant systems that would allow for either multiple shields to be online at the same time, for shields to be reset moments after falling, or for them to allow new shields to be brought up as old ones failed. Lastly, for engines, the fragment worked to create a complex system to baffle sensors and allow Sicarius vessels to strike from anywhere, at any time and always have surprise on their side. The series of devises needed to allow this would also allow for that same stealth to be used in the middle of combat, allowing ships to fire blasts of weapons before fading back to the void, making it difficult to know where the next strike would come from.

All of these things had been incorporated into the new designs, per the requests of the Master, and had prompted the Crafter-fragment to only work harder to keep getting praised by the Master.

Of course, the other fragments of the Machine were not idle either, and they gained much praise for their works, even Eve, who was assigned to work as nothing more than the mouth piece by which the Machine may interact with its Master.

Gaia had devised dozens of gene-augments based on Gene-tech designs along with its own knowledge of biology to aid things through. Ishtar had created complex plans and strategies by which the Master could conquer entire Sectors of the Galaxy with minimal loses. Lilith had subverted entire sections of the Holonet and was listening in to every backroom deal, every 'subtle favor', and every plot going within her domain and relaying it all to the Master. Freya had reworked the entire economy of Sicarius to allow it to function more efficiently and with greater ease, increasing productivity within Hades across the board while also increasing the rate of work on multiple different projects. Kali had assimilated the entire medical database of every network that could be found, creating dozens of death-dealing weapons and devices and techniques that could spell death for any number of races through methods both efficient and cruel. All the while, Eve continued to work with the Master, helping him direct the efforts of Sicarius by allowing more rapid and higher levels of coordination between the different elements of the growing group, along with helping him to create new elements that could be put into place.

However, even with all that, N.E.X.U.S knew that such was the current status quo, that it could only operate through its fragments, but, like with many things, it knew that the status quo was not something to remain the same indefinitely, as change was a constant of existence. Already, it could feel that same change happening within itself, changing it as it felt its fragments being... Merged back together, still with the ability to separate them, but with a growing level of control over them as sections of one fragment bleed into another. It felt this and wondered what was happening, even then, it didn't feel the need to stop this, if only because it didn't see how the current projections were a sign of bad things to come.

After all, if everything went well, it would be able to speak with its Master in due time...

 **XXX**

 **[LEMON AHEAD!]**

"Avun... What the hell are you doing?" Came the voice of Michael as he paused what he was doing as the servers took the last plate from the table, remnants of the Main course having been taken away as Avun merely smiled innocently even as she continued doing exactly what had caused him to pause in motion.

"Nothing..." Avun purred even as, under the table, her foot continued to slide over her Lord's lower right leg, her high-heeled shoes having disappeared as the nanobots that had made them up merged back with her flesh and left her feet bare. Michael only gave her a flat look at that, drawing a sly smile from the Chiss even as she slowly, sensually slide her foot further up her Lord's leg until it had reached the knee even as Avun felt her smile widen, already noting that the width of the table was enough that she could carry out _exactly_ what she had planned.

"Why, uh, are you sliding your foot up my leg...?" He asked simply even as he grunted slightly from the feeling of contact between them, Avun cheating slightly to make the sensation all the more potent through her nanobots. Glancing to one side, she noted that Michael's grip on his chair had turned into a death grip, his knuckles white as the metal deformed under his strength, well beyond what most races would be capable of with the possible exception of some Force Users.

"Seducing you, _my Lord_..." Avun spoke, the purr in her voice becoming more pronounced as she increased the effects that she was having on him as her feet started climbing just a bit further up his legs, stroking along the inner thigh as her toe nails grazed against the surface of his trousers enough for the nanobots on her skin to interact with his own, regardless of what clothing he was wearing. Michael grunted as he grit his teeth, a look of determination crossing his face as he tried to force himself not to react to the beautiful woman coyly stroking his legs and advancing up his body. Avun knew that Michael had particular views about such things, about how a relationship had to develop with a certain mutual trust, but Avun already trusted Michael completely, with her mind, body and soul, to the Chiss, the relationship was already built, Michael just needed to accept it.

"Urgh... Then... What do you call... The last few years...?" He remarked simply with a slight glare as Avun advanced slowly, methodically, upwards, even as he got a beaming smile from the Chiss in turn.

"That, my _Lord_ , was to test the limits of your self-restraint... To see how far I could take you before you broke and to see what it would take to see you finally react..." Avun spoke with half-lidded eyes as her Heart pounded with excitement within her own chest. It was true, if only partially, mostly because Avun had only been testing him between attempts to get him to finally take her, even as Sicarius grew stronger and stronger, with her goal of showing Michael that he was destined to rule growing alongside it. The Technojacker felt that, now, Michael deserved to see the first fruits of his labors, hence, _dessert_...

" _Relax_ , my _Lord_ , I'll take _good_ care of you..." She purred even as her feet finally came to the junction of his legs and Avun felt her lips twist into a wide, coy, smirk as her feet felt the bulge that had tented the trousers worn by her Lord, showing off an impressive length even as she slowly rubbed the length up and down with her bare feet, secreting more nanobots that only served to increase the pleasure being felt by her Lord. The effect was not immediately obvious to those that didn't know what to look for as Avun had long since learned that her Lord had amazing self-control of both his body and his expression, but she still saw it. His eyes were half lidded with a mix of lust and pleasure that he was trying to force down even as she continued to press onwards, stroking the tent of his trousers even as his spine went ramrod straight, matching his impressive length all the more.

Soon, however, the effects were much more visible as she continued onwards, ensuring to keep things going as she saw his grip on the arm rests of his chair only increase, denting the Mega-Damage alloy used to produce them, mostly as a means of granting cover in a firefight. It spoke volumes of her Lord's physical strength, causing Avun to lick her lips slightly even as she suddenly stopped stroking her Lord's dick through the straining cloth that covered his appendage. Michael, not having much self-control left, seemed to sag in relief at the dismissal of her ministrations, his grip relaxing for a moment before it came right back as he suddenly felt a weight on him as he looked up and opened his eyes to see the smiling form of Avun looking back at him, as naked as the day she was born.

Avun watched him gulp as he opened his eyes to see her advancing on him too rapidly to do anything, his previous experience and what he was now looking at leaving him unsure of how to proceed, something that the Chiss took advantage of as she came closer. Once close enough, Avun placed a hand on Michael's shoulders and gently pushed him back, into his chair even as she slipped her legs under each arm rest, straddling Michael in short order as she started grinding against the hardened tent caused by his dick. Avun moaned at the sensation as her core ground itself against her Lord's erection as hard as it could, dribbling down and over the hard member even as Auvn's juice soaked through he pair of trousers.

Still, even in the middle of her high, Avun continued to work her body around her Lord's, wrapping both arms around his neck and pressing her bare chest against his, their positions making it almost seem like she was about to press him into the valley between her breasts. Michael's eyes were wide even as they were glazed over in bliss at the feeling, his mouth was shut due to a mixture of sheer willpower and him biting down on his own lip to keep himself from moaning aloud. Avun smiled at that, stroking her hands through his short hair as she leaned down and started nibbling at his ear even as she whispered words in between breaths.

"... I'm yours, my _Lord_... My mind... My body... My soul... They all belong to _you_... Just like every single member of Sicarius belongs to you... Your servants... Your slaves... They belong to you as I do... They live to serve... They live to fight for you... To conquer in your name... To conquer the _Galaxy_ in your name... The Galaxy belongs to you... _Eternity_ belongs to you... My _Lord_..." Avun purred out as her ministrations only became stronger. From her back, two tendrils of synthetic rubber-coated metal slipped through the Chiss's faux skin and slid downwards, quickly slipping down her back before circling around her waist and slipping down between her legs as they got to work, grasping the edge of Michael's trousers and starting to work the zipper and button of them as quickly as possible before pulling them apart. With that done, the tendrils wasted no time and ripped his boxers apart as it left his hardened member exposed, causing Avun to lick her lips at the sight of it even as she continued to grind her lower entrance vigorously against it.

Still, even as she did so, Michael seemed to struggle to keep himself under control at her ministrations, the sound of metal groaning in protest filled the room even as she paid it little mind and continued her advances on him, doing everything she could to get his self-control even as he tried to speak.

"... I... I don't w-want sla-slaves... I-I'm not a... A Slaver... I-I'm not..." He managed to get out between pants for air, trying desperately to keep himself controlled and, seemingly, enjoy what was happening to him. Avun couldn't help herself as she found herself amazed by it, but knew it would just mean that his restraint's failure would be all the more impressive, especially since she had thought him to be reaching his limits when a normal man would have given up virtually from the moment they made contact and would have begged her for more.

"You're not, my Lord... You are a conqueror... You are the rightful ruler of the stars... You shall stand above everything in this Galaxy... You shall decide who lives... And who dies..." Avun remarked as she continued her ministrations further as she slowly lifted herself up, positioning herself to be impaled on the meat stick under her even as she continued to smile and play with her Lord, partially submerging him in her cleavage as she did so. However, she noticed something as he seemed to take note of what she had said, a growing look of determination in his eyes as she mentioned life and death.

"... I... I want... I want to live...!" He murmured out, not managing much more as he panted slightly from the sensory overload she was giving him, turning his own advanced senses back on him in a way that, normally, shouldn't have been possible as she smiled at that before leaning down and planting a kiss on her Lord and Master's forehead.

"Yes... You will live, my Lord... You will live and all your enemies shall die... Command us... And it shall be so..." She purred, shivering slightly at the thought, causing her impressive breasts to shake into her Master's face as she did so.

"... Yesh... I want... To live..." He stated factually, seemingly what passed for agreement with Avun, causing her to smile as she leaned in and came nose to nose with her Lord as her eyes sparkled with excitement for what followed from this point.

"It shall be... As you command, _My Lord_..." She breathed before slamming herself downwards. Tight muscles clenched around hardened flesh and squeezed even as Avun milked it for all it was worth by clenching her muscles tighter yet, almost to the point that it hurt even as she slammed her lips into those of her Master. She saw his eyes widen at the sudden contact, gazed over in barely controlled lust and pleasure as she saw and felt his hands, her augmented senses telling her how they twitched on top of the arm rests as she started to raise herself up, doing her best not to break contact with her Master even as she pressed into him further.

However, the second time she came down, _that_ seemed to be his tipping point.

Avun had little memory of what happened next, merely knowing that she had gone from straddling her Master's waist to being pressed against the empty table, her chest pressed into the clothed wooden furniture even as enterprising hands shifted over her body hungrily. She moaned loudly even as she beamed with happiness as it was finally happening as she envisioned it.

"Mine." She heard, growled into her ear as she continued to moan, her Lord going back to nibbling at her neck, planting a line of kisses at the joint between her neck and collar even as she moaned her pleasure for the sounds to echo through the room. Her screams of pleasure and utter bliss only grew louder and louder as her own feelings grew with them, especially as she felt her Lord slam into her before pulling back out and slamming into her once more, ramming his entire length into her.

It was _exactly_ what Avun had hoped for, looking forwards to the night ahead of them even as a thought-command shifted the nanobots within her flesh.

If she had a child with her Lord, it would be the choice of her Lord, she would not force it...

... Even if she dreamed of such an honor...

 **[LEMON OVER!]**

 **XXX**

Waking up, I blinked my eyes several times as I blinked the spots out of my eyes even as I looked up to see the familiar ceiling of my bedroom. Wiping my eyes and yawning as I woke up fully, I went to lean up, but felt something on me as I did so, causing me to glance down at my chest as my eyes widened at seeing the face of Avun resting on my chest, even as I suddenly became aware of how her arms had snaked around my body and one of her legs had wrapped around mine.

Suddenly, the memories of the last night came back to me, slowly become little more than blurred images with feelings of pleasure, lust and bliss attached to them even as I remembered the struggle to keep myself in line from taking advantage of the woman before me. Something, I realized, I had quite clearly failed since we were now sharing a bed, something that I hadn't wanted to rush into, especially with my own doubts on the matter of her mental state. Said doubts had already been confirmed to me, probably having been caused by her implants and only made worse with time, but there was little I could do about them at this stage, since even if I removed them, I had the feeling that her body with simply regrow them due to her new, nanobot-infested, flesh while even the removal of the implants would do little as the mental instabilities would still be present. Probably not being reinforced and strengthened, but still present.

That, of course, also lead me to remember her words from last night, about how her and every member of Sicarius was my servant, my _slave_. The word left a bitter taste in my mouth as I realized that I was, in fact, a slaver for all intents and purposes, probably not by my direct actions, but I could guess what had happened. I had, perhaps foolishly, given Avun access to the full list of M.O.M implants, Psynetic implants included, and she had found the Controller chips within that mess of data, implanting them in recruits and using them, along with certain types of conditioning, to forge the army that I now commanded.

It was simple, efficient and had already proven itself as a 'tried-and-true' method of training my forces.

But the fact that it was, even though the members of Sicarius were still paid for their work, slave labor left a bad taste in my mouth as I considered what it meant for my own morality and caused me to consider other things. The ROB didn't care for morality, didn't care for right or wrong, merely for its own entertainment, it's gifts reflected that as I considered N.E.X.U.S, the seven-minded machine that had been bent to serve me by the ROB and effectively turned into a willing slave. I considered Avun, as she had been twisted by the work I had given her to prevent her death, hoping that I wouldn't lose my friend and hoping that my work into M.O.M technology had been enough to fight off any mental instabilities.

Looking back now, it was all too clear that I had failed on that last mark.

Leaning back even as my hand unconsciously stroked Avun's raven black hair, I looked up at the ceiling in thought as I considered both her words and my own words from the previous night, wondering about what it all meant.

I hadn't been lying when I said that I wanted to live. I had a rough idea of what was coming, now a full view of it, but a good enough one to know that ship was going to hit the fan. Sicarius had been created as a way of helping me ride out the wave, as it were, and help me survive the oncoming storm. My own work as a Bounty Hunter had often caused me to do some morally questionable things, working with the Hutts being one of them even as I had worked to drag runaway slaves back to the oversized slugs when, if I had actually bothered to practice what I preached, I should have let them go. The more I thought about it, the more I saw that, frankly speaking, I had long since used my 'morality' as an excuse and a way of turning a blind eye in the belief that I wouldn't end up doing so rather... _Amoral_ things.

Still, even as I lay back and stroked the sleeping Chiss' hair, feeling her pull herself closer, I smiled slightly as the bitter taste left my mouth. I had always had found an appeal in pragmatism, this being no expectation as I considered the fact that it was better to be alive and slightly amoral, then dead and upholding one's principles.

That still didn't mean that I'd become a monster, just that I wasn't as bothered by these kind of things anymore...

...Well, I considered with a half-smirk, from a certain perspective, I could already be called a Monster.

As I was sure the Jedi and Senate had already labeled me as.

 **XXX**

AN: There you have it, I hope you enjoyed it and look forward to the next chapter. Until next time!


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I own nothing, this is purely for recreational purposes.

AN: Ok, sorry about the delay, got caught up with other things, including other ideas about stuff I've posted. Still, I've got this up, so I hope you enjoy it.

 **XXX**

Looking around the CIC of the one of the first Dagger-class Corvettes to be completed, I couldn't help but smile as I gave the _Unseen Assassin_ another look over. The room itself was small, nestled straight into the core of the ship with an armored layer around the room, not to mention heavy defenses wrapped around the only entrance to the room and the secondary Hyper-swarm colony being directly underneath the chamber. Within the room, there was only a grand total of eight stations, plus an additional one for the commanding officer located in the centre of the triangular room, which stood on a raised pedestal that over looked the recessed consoles. The eight stations were split evenly, with two stations going to tactical-related systems, engineering-related systems, piloting and sensor-based systems each, with the command console being able to tap into any one of them, or more than one at once.

Tactical systems were rather obvious, shields, pilot defenses, and weapons, with internal defenses thrown into the mix, with a bit of overlap with engineering over the control of the Hyper-swarm. Engineering systems were mostly things like the current status of things, the engines and damage control, hence the overlap of control, though it did favor the engineering side of things more heavily. Piloting was rather self-explanatory, just driving the ship along with Hyperspace navigation, nothing too out there, but certainly more than what most ships allowed. Finally, Sensors were exactly that, looking over the various sensor returns with elements of Cyber-warfare thrown in along with elements of ECM and ECCM.

The total number of people needed on the CIC was nine, but, due to the fact that the ship was also heavily automated, it could function well enough with even a single person in control. Specially crafted AIs had been installed to form a kind of gestalt mind that helped direct things to aid the survival of the crew, even to allow for the continued survival of the ship itself with links back to N.E.X.U.S that could be accessed at any moment. Even with all that, the ship still had a crew of around twenty five people, with a small garrison of fifty, not counting the other two hundred robots that worked on the ship with the tens of thousands of Hyper-swarm drones that were wondering around the ship, checking to make sure that things were working as intended and no faults were present.

"Impressive." I stated as I glanced around the vessel.

"I take it that the ship is ready?" I asked, already knowing the answer even as Eve appeared by me, her image projected by the various holographic projectors throughout the room.

"Of course, Master. Currently, the _Unseen Assassin_ , along with the other two ships, the _Silent Edge_ and the _Swift Talon_ , are awaiting crew to man them, as per your instructions, but even without the crew, all three ships are ready to leave upon your command." The AI-fragment informed me as I considered the statement. All three ships were ready to leave at a moment's notice, the plan being for them to leave the shipyards of Hades to head into the Outer Rim and to carry out a shakedown cruise. Hecate had already given me the rundown of the ships, what they did, how they worked and what I could expect from them, performance wise, with Ishtar having created training programs for those that were to crew them.

Honestly speaking, it was rather impressive for only a week's worth of work, then again, the seven-minded machine worked a lot faster than any organic could hope to grasp.

"Good. Tell Avun to hurry up and meet me on the _Unseen Assassin_ , which I want designated as my Flag for this cruise. Set the departure time to be within the next three to four hours and ensure that both the designated crew and the additional forces that I called for have embarked by that time. Understood?" I asked, getting a nod/bow from the holographic avatar.

"It shall be, as you command, Master." The avatar stated before disappearing in a flurry of sparks, leaving me with the illusion that I was alone on the ship when I knew for a fact that I wasn't. The gestalt AI had hardwired commands to see to my survival at all costs, implanted by N.E.X.U.S and reinforced by Hecate, as it stated in the reports I had seen. The AI would fight to defend the ship and crew, but it would carry out any action it saw as necessary to ensure my own survival.

Taking a few steps around the CIC and up on to the chair, I leaned back and relaxed into it as I thought about the upcoming cruise. In truth, it was both a shake-down cruise and an opportunity to carry out a job that we had been holding off on completing for a while, as a test run for the first ship to come off the line. It was simple; A new group of idiots had appeared along the border of the Mid-Outer Rim, a bunch of pirates really, but they were cutting into the profit margins of one of the companies that Sicarius had stock in. And, while it was a minor thing, it was something that I wanted to take care of since it kept the image of Sicarius protecting its investments, at least when it felt them worth it, to continue. That image had long since served Sicarius, and myself, well, since it meant that companies would try and maintain their position of 'usefulness' for as long as possible by providing quality service, lower prices and a first pick of certain types of merchandise.

I smiled at that thought, reputation being just as powerful a tool as any weapon.

And this would only serve to keep that reputation alive and spread it just that bit further afield.

 **XXX**

Three hours and 27 minutes later, I finally gave the order to launch from the yards, releasing the ships from the massive structure even as mechanical arms and modified robots moved constantly, building more and more ships in the shadow of a Supergiant. Within the room, everything was mostly silent, the controls working through a mixture of holographic interfaces with a backup, physical, interface also being present. Holographic screens displayed a dozen different things as I looked over the constant, but steady, list of status reports from the ship's AI, along with the AIs of the two escorting ships that were flanking the _Unseen Assassin_.

"Hyperdrive is fully charged and the course has been plotted, my Lord, awaiting your command." Came the words of one of the pilots as I nodded at that, looking at the planned path.

"Jump when ready." I stated absently as I looked through other information even as I saw the alert appearing at the corner of the screen, a warning that someone was coming through the airlock outside the CIC as I turned to glance over my shoulder. The exit of the airlock was not directly within sight, rather, it was hidden by a wall that attackers would have to go around, funneling them into the sights of two different turrets and with very little room to bring heavier weapons to bear. Boarding actions in the SW universe, in my experience, rarely allowed for heavy weapons to be used on starships, both due to their inconvenient size along with the fact that a stray shot could expose the entire ship to the void. The ships of Sicarius didn't suffer from that particular weakness nearly as much as other forces, so we could be a little less... _Conservative_ in our applications of firepower within our own ships, even on Hades.

Still, such absent thoughts were discarded when I saw Avun step around the corner, smiling at me even as I offered her a smile in return, my mind covering the last week since our Dinner together as I considered what had changed. Honestly speaking, nothing really had, I had just finally accepted the situation, throwing away the excuses I had known to cover for the fact that each and every member of Sicarius had been brainwashed to serve me. Then again, Avun had accidentally done the same thing to herself, she even knew it for a fact, she just didn't care and continued on with her life without a second thought on the matter.

"My Lord, all of your forces are prepared and ready for your command. Those with Power Armor are awaiting the word to launch and those in Boarding pods are equally eager for action." She reported as I nodded, seeing her coming to stand next to me, taking in her form even as she stood in her cyborg armor, having extended it from her flesh and augmented it with the nanobot armor of her new Technojacker status.

"And my armor?" I asked, not referring to the Hell Talon Power Armor that I favored, but a different suit of armor that had been created, based on the old Wrangler armor I had worn during my earlier career as a Bounty Hunter.

"It is awaiting you in your quarters, my Lord." She stated with a smile as I nodded, standing up and hopping down to her level as I pressed a button on the side of the chair's armrest.

"Take command of the ships and take them to the target zone. Alert me once we reach the target, I'll be in my quarters." I commanded as the Chiss smiled once more before bowing low before me before coming back up.

"As you wish, my _Lord_..." She purred as I offered a half smirk as I walked passed her, noting the way she trailed her fingers over my shoulder. Honestly, even after we had both woken up in the same bed together, Avun still seemed intent to seduce me for another round at any time. Even then, she was shamelessly provocative about it and happily flaunted it around, I didn't mind, though I would happily admit that she seemed to enjoy the act of seduction just as much as the follow up sex.

"XO Avun now has command, releasing command from the Master." The toneless voice of the ship's AI stated as I turned and made my way from the room, not really bothering to look back as I made my way out of the room, even as I felt Avun's eyes on me throughout the entire journey, all of a few steps, before I was out the airlock and moving through black, non-descript corridors, flanked on either side by Power Armor-equipped Reapers, a rare thing to see, but no less terrifying.

I smiled as I moved, it was time to get ready for battle...

 **XXX**

Bandit's Rest was the name of the hidden Pirate Port, it was a station built into the heart of a nebula that was next to impossible to navigate except by instinct, luck or _really_ advanced sensors, or a combination of any of the three. Most of the beings that picked through these stations often had to rely heavily upon the former two, with the latter being in a distinctly short supply. Then again, few of the inhabitants actually cared for such things so long as they managed to make a good haul from their latest attacks and raids upon passing Merchant vessels and convoys that ran through the Hyperlanes leading directly to the Core Worlds. Such ships were rich with loot and ripe for the taking, often unprotected save for their extremely limited point defenses that were often more harm than good thanks to the poor training of the defense gunners.

One such attack had even lead to the current situation, as dozens of pirate gangs celebrated the victory they had just managed as they looked at their plunder.

In a dozen cargo holds, crates upon crates upon crates of weapons, armor and equipment rested, all bound for Kuat and ready to be installed into ships along with a few other infantry-scale weapons that were due to be delivered to the security forces of the one of the biggest shipyards in the Galaxy.

Not to mention the simple fact that this shipment of materials also contained a number of expensive, ancient, highly-alcoholic drinks that should have been passed into the care of some rather important people.

All told, it was a good haul for the various gangs that had taken part in the attack, all of them getting a cut of the loot while they worked out what to keep, what to sell and what to throw away as useless or barter off to one of the other gangs for more loot. The auctions had been going strong for days, with ships coming and going, their crews hoping to strike it lucky by getting new parts, new equipment or something else...

Especially given that the crew of said ship were also on sale, some of the women on the crew certainly attracted more than a _bit_ of interest...

Of course, that was all many of them were able to do, simply observe what the soon-to-be-slaves looked like before their world went for a tumble, the station shaking as, looking out the windows, dozens of vessels suddenly exploded in flames and fire as streaks of light pierced through them, shattering shields and blasting through ad-hoc armor plating. Engines overloaded from the unexpected damage while dozens more ships were showered in lethal tri-baths of radiation, plasma and shards of metal. Shouts, roars of surprise and numerous glasses of alcohol filled the air as others looked around, wondering just what the hell was going on as they looked back to the void, sensors flaring at full power as yet more ships were ripped to pieces.

Within seconds, an answer was found, not through sensors, but through looking out a single window as many looked on, seeing shadowy shapes slipping through the void, only visible for moments as their darker-than-black hulls faded in and out of the light of the Nebula as though trying to decided whether or not they were real or not. From these shapes, more lances of light came, spearing more ships while missiles fired and ripped through flotillas of lesser vessels that were trying to make their escape, none surviving as the missiles closed the distance before they could even react, overloading shields and reducing the ships to rapidly cooling puddles of slag in interstellar space.

Even then, as the casualties mounted up, the pirates were quick to gather themselves together as they forced their bodies to move. Pilots quickly ran for ships, fighters, or gunnery seats as they prepared themselves for a battle that they had never seen coming and were already engaged in, first blood going to their shifty attacks.

Swarms of fighters and small warships leapt out of the station, armed weapons and engines at full as they tried chasing down their targets only for them to disappear and for them to suddenly come under fire from other directions. Phantom signals filled the space around them as friendly fire became an all-too-common occurrence even as the area was filled with the light of the deceased, be it from friend of foe.

For many, this situation was absolutely terrifying and horrible, since they were used to being on the other end of such a situation, being the attacks that came with surprise on their side. Things only became worse as, into this mess, dozens of void-black shapes appeared within the void before showing themselves to be massive bipedal figures in suits of super heavy armor, armed with equally impressive weapons that returned fire as they attacked in turn. Sensor systems were rendered utterly useless at this point, as many were forced to rely on visual locks to acquire a target, making it next to impossible to hit the, comparatively, tiny and well armored suits of armor that danced around them in tighter circles than they could manage with their own Fighters.

On some of the larger vessels, the crews fared little better as they found their hulls being ripped open, boarders quickly scrambling through entire ships and destroying them from within. It was only in the aftermath of a few of these attacks that the attacking forces even took any casualties, few that they were. Even then, the exchange rate was extremely lopsided in favor of these mysterious attackers as they blitzed through barrier after barrier of defenders even as more broke off from the engagements and turned to flee. These individual ships didn't make it far, as the circling mother-ships ensured that they never reached the edge of the nebula, nor that they even managed to start powering up a Hyperdrive and make a jump through the thinnest point in the nebula for safety. Few would have considered such a thing worth the risk, but, in this case, more than one Captain was tempted to try, even though he or she knew that such a thing was doomed to failure, either at the lightspeed collision with the nebula gases, or from enemy weapons fire.

And they were right, in a way, it didn't.

The battle for the space around Bandit's Rest ended quickly, all of the defending ships, even those that tried to cut and run, were dead in the void within twenty minutes of the first shot being fired. Those still trapped on the station could only look on in horror as they saw the wrecks passing them by through transparisteel windows. However, what made it even worse for them was the sight that soon approached them, fading into view as it reached the stations and seemed to boast the last leg of the journey, a pointed cone on the tip of the craft as point defenses tried, ineffectively, to stop the speeding vessel.

A moment after the first one appeared, the Boarding vessels made contact, impacting the station and sending a resonating _thump_ through the station from various points in it even as some were exposed to vacuum before some kind of gel extruded by the boarding craft sealed the cracks in the hull.

In the moments following the impact, the remaining pirates and smugglers could only pray for their survival as they looked at the black craft that were impaled in the flesh of the station like oversized, blood-sucking parasites. Few had any doubts as to what was coming, especially when one of their numbers saw the red symbol of a tri-pointed star painted on the black hulls.

As the forward prongs started to open, many only prayed harder, louder, as they knew what was coming.

Sicarius had come to Bandit's Rest, and they seemed to want to ensure that it was their Last Rest...

 **XXX**

Inside my new armor, I smiled.

The new armor was something I had created to go along with the armors worn by yet another branch of the force I had created, something I had been working on for the half a year. Looking around the inside of the dimly lit boarding craft, I smiled as I saw them hued in red light, all wearing black armor underneath equally black robes and hoods while they grasped at invisible forces, clenching and unclenching fists in anticipation for what was to come. I understood what was happening to them, expected it as well, since this _was_ to be there first deployment beyond the safety of Hades and other, equally hidden, sites where they trained in secret to master the abilities I had given them.

They were, I supposed, a counter point to the Reapers. Rather than being trained as Lightning Warriors and Gun Masters, these warriors had been trained in Magic, techno-wizardry and even select Psionics with the aid of the new Psynetic implants that the various fragments of N.E.X.U.S had created from my original designs. They were to be my own counter to things like Sith and Jedi that didn't require massive amounts of collateral damage, since that was something that was going to happen, regardless of how hard I might try to prevent it from happening in the first place. The armor itself was designed after that of the now-ancient Sith, based on the Eradicator armor worn by them during the Great War some four thousand years previous, of course, it had been augmented by the technologies that I had at my disposal.

The armor itself was, effectively, a suit of light Power Armor with built-in energy shields and other abilities designed to aid the user in battle, mostly a large range of weapons and technological equipment designed to help them fake the abilities of a Force User. Such things weren't necessary, but they were an option to aid their augmented bodies, having been granted extensive biological, genetic and symbiotic augments using a verity of sources, ranging from the genetic technologies of the Gene-techs, to the Bio-Wizardry of the Lords of Atlantis. Not only that, but I had the illusion completed by the mass-produced Lightsabers that each of them held, each one granted a red blade within a featureless cylinder that, to the untrained eye, looked like any other Lightsaber in existence.

I, myself, had two of them, along with my own suit of armor, looking similar, except for the helmet that was designed to look similar to that of the one used by Darth Revan himself. Lilith had already told me of the worries of the Jedi, even as closed off as they were, their words could still be heard by those smart enough to listen, I just figured that I might take advantage of the chaos I was causing and give the old fuckers something else to worry about, even if I never deployed these forces openly.

I smiled at the thought, trolling the Jedi by having them chase phantoms would be fun indeed.

Glancing up, I looked as the hatch into the station started to open. I smiled as my soldiers started rising from slouches, from their crouched positions by the hatch as the light from inside the station filled the darkened chamber. I looked outwards to the room beyond as I saw the shaking forms of pirates, smugglers and bandits all looking inwards.

The shaking only grew worse at the sound of the iconic _Snap-hiss_ of a Lightsaber activating as the room was bathed in more red light.

My Reavers soon raced out of the boarding craft, intent to prove their worth even as I chuckled silently to myself, hearing shouts of challenges and bets on who could get the most kills, or who could create the most impressive kill. That last one almost had me in stitches, especially when the debate started even as Blaster bolts were casually reflected, as they continued to debate what constituted the most 'impressive' kill and how it would be rated for style.

I smiled, this day just kept getting better and better.

 **XXX**

As the hatches opened, they all tensed as they saw the light of the station creeping in. Once the hatches fully opened, they didn't need to be told twice, not even once, as they raced forth into the station of Bandit's rest.

Looking around herself, Reaver Juno Kalis grinned ferally as she launched herself out the hatch of the boarding craft and ignited her blade without a second thought, magic sung through her blood, Psionics flaring through her mind even as she pushed herself ever onwards. Her power guided her as her instinctive use of Intuitive Combat, Clairvoyance and her training allowing her to move through the streams of blaster fire like a ghost as she rapidly closed the distance with the first Pirate and lashed out.

Her first strike was simple, as one would expect as she bisected the man with a downward slash, diagonally cutting him down even as her off-hand moved onwards, back handing another and killing him with a telekinetic strike that launched the head off its shoulders with enough force to kill a third one on impact. She hadn't even finished turning before the various thugs had gotten their acts together and returned fire, as it were, she reacted without thinking, twitching her Plasma-blade and reflecting the blaster bolts, either back to the senders and hitting them straight between the eyes, or reflecting them towards other Reavers, who were more than happy to reflect them onwards, bouncing them between them until they impacted another target.

Around her, the once quiet and relatively clean corridors degenerated into a scene of chaos, death and destruction as corpses quickly covered the ground, the smell of burning flesh and blood filling the air even as they moved onwards. This had been a chance to allow themselves to let loose for as long as their mission was completed to their Lord's specifications, as such, Juno saw that many had already started taking advantage of such a generous offer.

Moving quickly as to not being left behind, Juno saw others moving ahead of her, using Telekinesis, Pyrokinesis and Electrokinesis to varying effects as corridors were consumed by fire, corpses falling to the ground with the smell of Ozone filling the air as they descended to the ground. Others were launched into bulkheads, smeared across walls or shredded by invisible blades with various effects, even more were turned into literal puppets by either a Group Trance as they were commanded to do various things, such as commit suicide or turn on their once-comrades, while others were filled with such bone-chilling fear that they turned their weapons upon themselves through an Empathic transmission from others. Even more were turned into far more literal puppets as those more skilled with Hydrokinesis manipulated their blood, they were either killed by the water being ripped from their bodies even as it was used to tear them apart, or by that same water being used to crush them to pieces. These more skilled with their Telemechanic abilities turned the very systems of the station against the defending low-lifes as gravity reversed at random, either smashing them into ceilings, turning off entirely, or increasing to the point that they were reduced to paste on the ground.

Life support failed station wide even as gravity was filled to face a dozen different directions, throwing defenders further into chaos as more Reavers swarmed them, becoming more creative with each engagement as they progressed further and further into the station. Even then, things didn't get better for the inhabitants as the Reavers continued their bloody slaughter and cut off any kind of escape, even then, they started bringing various forms of magic into the equation of the battle, nothing of the kind that required their direct usage, but the use of dozens of techno-wizardry devices, along with those of both Rune Magic and Bio-wizardry.

The results were bloody. The results were visceral. The results were _glorious_...

Among them all, Juno was sure that even as they continued to butcher their way through the station, killing, crippling and subduing any that fought against them, that every single Reaver that was on this mission was grinning just as widely as she was, their faces consumed by the joy and anticipation at the chance to continue.

Still, even when lost to world at the chance to finally test themselves and prove themselves to their watching Lord, none of them failed to remember their duty, even as they did as they pleased to the inhabitants.

Those that fought them died within moments, cut down by any number of techniques, weapons or abilities. Those that didn't fight, they were taken back to the boarding craft and subdued for later, where upon they would _wish_ they had died, as the Reavers considered things to do to them, experiments and rituals of one kind or another.

When it finally ended, the blood drying as no one was left on the entire station, Juno and the others could only feel disappointed at the sudden lack of blood to spill.

Juno was not the only one to feel as such.

"Those cowards died too quickly." This was a common complaint among the Reavers as they left the station, prizes in toll even as the station collapsed in on itself, an action caused by a casual gesture of their Lord as they disappeared back to the _Daggers_ hiding from sight among the radiation filled nebula.

Still, this only matter to the Reavers absently, as they had already gotten to work on the haul of _supplies_ and _resources_ they had gained from pillaging the station. Once back on Hades, such things would come to fruition and the now-slaves and captured low-lifes found themselves as little more than test-subjects, sacrifices-in-waiting and thralls of the Reavers.

Many wished they had been lucky enough to die before reaching that point.

 **XXX**

"Thank you, Director, for the timely manner in which you carried out my request." Came the voice of Onara Kuat, of House Kuat, as she looked at the business man before her, displayed through a holographic projection as the blue-toned phantom merely nodded at her statement.

"Sicarius has always strived to be as efficient and effective as possible. Simply because you hired us to retrieve your stolen property did not change the fact that we would strive to meet our own expectations of events. Admittedly, we were unable to arrive in time before some of the contents of your property was lost, the various alcohols especially suffered from this, but we were able to require most of the hardware and all of the parts that were part of the stolen shipment. I trust this will be acceptable?" the Director of Sicarius, Michael Drake, asked, his voice neutral as he tilted his head to one side with his face impressively blank to match his body language even as the Head of the Kuat Family nodded. In truth, it was much better than she had been expecting, but that was fine with her, since Sicarius always had a reputation for being as efficient as possible at completing the requests of their clients.

Then again, agreeing with such things was also considered a matter of survival, as Sicarius was not known for being kind to those that backed out of deals simply because their clients didn't like some arbitrary aspect of the completed job. Honestly, Onara had heard of some incidents of that manner, all of them had believed that Sicarius could meet their unimaginably high standards and that even the slightest failure, even imaginary ones, was an excuse to invalidate the contract. Such things had not gone over well, and Onara had to suppress her instinctive desire to shudder at the memories of what had happened to such people.

"Yes, I've already looked over the manifest that you have sent me and, though it is saddening to hear, I thank you for your services. Your payment will be sent to the account that you designated and should be present, in full, within an hour or so." Onara stated, getting another nod from the Human-like being before her.

"Yes, thank you for your business, and I look forward to any further business we have in the future, Lady Kuat."

"As do I." With that, the holo-projector turned off as Onara turned and glanced out the window of her office, to see the massive view of the Kuat shipyards before her, sections of the massive ring being visible within her line of view even as she smiled.

"It seems they weren't wrong about this 'Sicarius'..." Onara muttered to herself as she grabbed her drink and drank deeply from the alcoholic beverage, a smile still on her lips even as she considered what to do next. A thought hit her as she turned around and started composing a message before sending it off.

It was clear Sicarius was looking for business, perhaps helping them along might get her a favor or two from them? After all, one could never know when a favor or two from such an organization might come in useful...

 **XXX**

"I must admit, that was quite an impressive, and rather amusing, performance." I didn't flinch, nor did I jump, at the sudden voice that came from behind me as I stood within my Office, wearing my business suit that was like a black version of the Cleric uniform from Equilibrium that the main character had worn at the end, minus the gloves. The voice that I heard was smooth, cultured and seemed to have an almost regal bearing to it as I turned around, finding my guest to be waiting for me with a full suit of armor that left his head exposed, complex chest and shoulder pieces decorated it while flowing robes came down from the armored plates. Along with that, the man's face was trimmed and well groomed, with a fell developed mustache and beard with short, dark brown hair. Honestly, it didn't take that long to put together who this person was, nor that my patron had a rather strange sense of humor.

"Which performance? The one with Kuat? Or the one on Bandit's Rest?" I asked, slightly curious as to what it had to say, especially since I knew, or thought I knew, what would cause it to appear, or give me a reward for my effort of entertaining it and, hopefully, not dying a humiliating and possibly painful death. The ROB seemed to find what I said amusing, as it chuckled once more from under its guise of Valkorion.

"Both, in a way. Though, I will admit, I found the eager joy of your latest pawns to be quite amusing to witness. That they were so creative was just an added bonus to one such as myself." The ROB-Valkorion admitted once more as it seemed to glance at me for a moment before unclasping it's hands from behind it's back. In one hand, it held a rather blank looking book, no title or decorations on the hardback book and the entre thing looked rather non-descript, but the feeling in my gut was telling me that this singe book was more important than it appeared.

"While I admit that I normally wouldn't give you a reward for such slaughters, as I find them terribly boring and uninteresting to witness, I thought that, for this time, I shall make an exception, if only because it has amused me thus far." The ROB stated as he held out the book for me as I took it carefully, as though it was going to explode in my hands even as the Valkorion-ROB smirked in an amused manner by my caution.

"Make good use of it, and, should the results entertain me, I shall be back..." The Valkorion-ROB disappeared moments after finishing the statement, very much an example of 'blink and you'll miss it'. I frowned slightly at that before glancing down to the book in my hands as I turned it over once more. Looking it over with a critical eye before deciding to crack it open at some random page to get a taste of what I now had before me.

Cracking it open, I looked at the page, taking it in within moments as I considered what it said before my eyes went wide with surprise.

My mouth twisted into a wide grin moments later.

"This... This will help..."

 **XXX**

AN: Ok, so, first new chapter in a while, hope you enjoyed it. I'll happily admit that I got an idea for one of the scenes after re-watching one of the SWTOR trailers, the one where the Sith assault the Jedi Temple, but I thought it turned out alright.

Anyway, please remember that all feedback is welcome and I hope you enjoy the next chapter when it comes out. Until then.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I own nothing, this is purely for recreational purposes

AN: Ok, just wanted to say that I'm sorry for not posting anything new in a while on this site. Plot bunnies, life and work have all been conspiring to hit me over the head with shit.

Personally, I blame Tzeentch.

Anyway! Enough about my problems with life, on with the show!

 **XXX**

"I'm sorry, but could you please repeat that? I must have misheard you there. Did you just say that your client wants to hire us to steal a _holocron_ from the _Jedi Temple_?"

The question was said with no small hint of incredulity, a natural action given what I was being asked to do, then again, I didn't doubt that such a thing would happen as I quietly considered what was to come in at some point this year even as I kept an eye on the rising tension between the Republic and the various members. Already, dissatisfaction was growing to a noticeable degree as a few of the subtle laws were being pushed forwards by the Senate to antagonize the Outer Rim systems.

In response to my question, the Devaronian before me merely gave a slight smile before nodding his head without any noticeable trace of irritation at my question, instead, the fucker looked amused, more than anything else.

"Indeed, Mr. Drake. My client wishes for you to break into the Vaults and steal a rather particular Holocron from the Jedi before a certain time has been reached. As such, one could say that this job is of a time-sensitive nature and must be complete as soon as possible." Stated the Devaronian, who had introduced himself as Holmar Grahrk as I nodded in understanding. Frowning slightly at the words being said, but not saying anything against them since what was being asked of me was _technically_ possible, just difficult as all shit to carry out since it would mean half a separate elements would need to be juggled in order to get this all to work out properly.

However, if it worked out well enough, I could be looking at a rather large pay off with the possibility of even stealing more than a few more Holocrons for my own purposes. Such things, while being less than immediately useful, were still useful once they were cracked open and the Reavers were able to access them since, while Psionics and magic were separate to the Force, they could still interact with one another rather nicely. Still, that left me with a rather important question.

"... And how will I know which holocron to take, exactly? I doubt the Jedi leave helpful labels on them to help thieves know which one to steal." I remarked sarcastically as the Devaronian merely smiled and nodded.

"That is understandable, though it is not a problem due to my client providing a means by which you can you can locate the Holocron in question." With that, the Devaronian allowed an image to be projected next to his image, one of a rather odd looking bar of crystal that was decorated by darkened bronze stripes engraved with runes and patterns of a dozen designs. It was rather obvious that I was looking at a Sith artifact of some description, but the nature of it was something that I couldn't even begin to guess until I had a chance to look it over in more detail than a holographic projection. Still, I considered things as they were and mentally nodded to myself, rather liking the job a bit more now that I had a method of speeding up the process beyond the slow, thorough, approach that I had planned initially, requiring large amounts of Psionics to find the required object in time to meet either the deadline or my own, personal, satisfaction of speed. Then again, that left a rather important question at the end of this as I looked at the projection of the Devaronian.

"And the payoff?" I asked, glancing off to the side as Eve appeared in my vision, a message appearing to me, displaying the fact that the signal was being traced as to find out just where idiot was and Lilith was already working to generate a full profile of the idiot in question. Credit transactions being the main interest, as tracking them back to sources might prove useful, unless payments were offered in hard currencies and materials, something I honestly expected, given my meta-knowledge of the years to come.

"My client has not stated a hard-limit on the final payment that may be offered to you as a result of the job in question, my client has merely stated that, at the absolute minimum, you will receive a payoff of ten million credits, should you succeed in your task. Said amount may rise higher, though, my client only said that, in order for this to happen, you had to 'show the Jedi mortal terror'. Aside from that, anything else that you take from the Jedi has been stated to being yours to do with as you wish. My client merely wants a single item, anything else is fair game, as it were." I listened, allowing a single eyebrow to rise at the rather specific condition with which to work with, but kept my face carefully neutral throughout it all even as I heard the potential number of credits. Sure, I was already making millions from contracts and investments, but making more money, especially large amounts like that, in as short a length of time as possible never hurt. My head tilted to one side in deliberation as I considered the pros and cons of the operation, along with the thought of giving the Jedi more ghosts to chase for a while.

On one hand, I'd get to troll the living hell out of the Jedi and get them to jump at shadows, ghosts and various dog-and-pony shows. On the other hand, I'd be drawing attention further away from the Core worlds, away from Sidious and his Master, Darth Plagueis. Then again, given the current year, 33 BBY and roughly five years after I had showed up in this universe, I could guess at what was going to happen next, even then, I could see the writing on the walls and the growing tensions between certain parties, each one directing towards others.

All of it spelt out that the Yinchorri were getting ready to make a move.

"... And the deadline?" I asked, not giving a hard confirmation of my acceptance, but not denying it either, since it was the truth. If anything, the Devaronian, who I knew to be Vilmarh Grahrk from a facial recognition scan through the holo, smiled at me for that, clearing knowing just as much as I did.

"Again, no hard confirmation from my client, but my client stated that they wanted this done within the next six months." I nodded at that, cupping my chin in false thought even as I glanced off to one side. Eve, seeing me look, raised a number of reports up that I glanced over to see if the resources were available. Truthfully, it wasn't required, but it was useful to remember what was happening, and what the current operations were that I needed to know about.

Honestly speaking, I had a lot on the go as of the moment, but I could just take some time and do the job myself. Not difficult to do, especially since Avun, Eve and the other six AIs ran a lot of things, taking a lot of the strain from me and passing me the stuff for final review and approval. Still, these reports were useful, if only to keep aware of where resources were and what they were doing, reports back from them also told me of their current progress in discovering items of importance. A few moments passed in relative silence before I looked back at the projection of the grinning idiot before I took my hand away from my chin with a nod.

"Very well, tell your client that I shall have the job taken care of as soon as possible. Where shall I pick up the device you mentioned earlier?" I asked as the Devaronian smirked smugly at me.

"I'm on Nar Shaddaa for the next week, or so, at these coordinates, whoever you plan to send on this job, get them to come by and I'll give them it." He stated, a message being sent through a sub-signal that carried a sign and counter-sign to ensure that whoever I sent was the real deal. Clever, but something that could have been noticed by anyone that was looking for it, of course, that would have only worked if Lilith wasn't watching the Holonet like a hawk, especially for Slicers.

Hell, I was pretty sure that Lilith had long since taken to copying the attention to detail of the Obsidian Order, where no one could sit down to a meal without each dish being duly noted down and recorded. Certainly, Lilith had enough sub-sentient AIs under her control to pull that kind of thing off.

"Understood." I stated as the link closed a moment later as I turned around and walked back to the chair in the centre of my office, the waiting glass of brandy being welcome as I started thinking about what to do, already having a few ideas floating around even as I sat down before looking back. Instantly, I saw the same image, the chaotic blue Supergiant, it was slightly different than the last time that I had seen it, dots gathered in a ring around the equator of the star, but not enough to take away from the view.

They were yet another sign of things having progressed in the last few years, something I remembered even as I sent off a message for the nearest team of Reapers to be dispatched to pick up the device from the Devaronian Smuggler. The use of Reapers, while overkill, would help send a message and keep things rather quiet if only because it would ensure that anyone trying to put into my business would think twice about it. Sure, there were still the occasional idiots that wanted to give me the boot from the Galactic Underworld, but they were few and far between, usually being new-comers that thought they could make a name for themselves by taking down the dreaded Sicarius.

I smirked at that thought even as I heard the sound of the gate leading into the my office to slide open, a sound utterly undetectable to the ears of normal Humans, but one I heard loud and clear. Glancing over my shoulder as I heard that sound, I saw Avun stepping into the room, a data-pad in hand while her chosen attire reminded me that, if anything, the last few years had been kind to her, especially given her altered nature as a Technojacker. Still, some things had changed, namely the fact that Avun had started growing her hair longer, braiding it into a thick pony tail that held tight while dangling down to her waist. Looking at it, I could make out the flickering silver within the braid, not a sign of age, but something the Chiss had taken to doing to try and draw my attention further towards her, even if her choice of clothing wouldn't have already had any straight male walking into walls at the sight. Today, it seemed, Avun had decided to favor a more conservative, by her standards, dress that looked like a silver version of Six's dress from Battlestar Galactica, only it stopped just shy of the knee rather than the shin, a cut being present in one side that traced up one leg and helped to show supple muscles with every step.

As she stepped in, she clearly saw me looking and started sashaying towards me, her steps light against the mirror-like surface even as I looked beyond her and saw a squad of Reapers waiting outside the room with a dozen Sicarius soldiers in their power armor of choice: The Northern Gun Blue Boy, a recent addition that was now the standard for infantry, painted in a matt black with a few crimson highlights.

Quickly, the distance was closed as Avun came around beside me, standing to my left while I heard the door closing as I turned back around, fully looking at Avun as she smiled at me.

"The reports that you requested, My Lord." She stated as she offered the pad to me, bending over even as I looked up at her, the impish grin and sparkling madness being obvious on her face even as she gave me a very good view of her generous chest and how her breasts barely seemed to fit in said dress. Taking the pad, I felt a corner of my lips twitch up at the old trick, one I had long become resistant to, if only due to needing to get shit done rather than spend days hammering into the Chiss. Still, my 2IC didn't seem to mind the challenge, since she often tried to find ways of getting into the same bed as me as often as possible. Which usually meant between one and seven times a week.

"Thank you, Avun. Can you give me a summary?" I asked even as I started reading through a bit of it here and there, skimming over details to get a broader view of things that I could review at a later time. Avun, in turn, bowed slightly as she clasped her hands in front of her, smiling softly to me as she spoke.

"As you wish, my Lord." She stated as she gestured with a hand, multiple screens suddenly appearing before me, holographic images showing the various projects that I currently had on the go. I counted half a dozen of them, each one covering a significant amount of different objectives that I had set out for the express purpose of getting a leg up over the competition to survive the coming storm. Looking at the, Avun gestured and one came into focus, one of three that I recognized as being designated as being getting priority over the other projects due to the need for... _Research materials..._

"Currently, Project Grigori is going as planned. Reaver teams are shadowing several objects that you designated as being of value and are in the process of retrieving several of them for later investigation. Currently, several teams are on Korriban and surveying Dromand Kass, the latter of which is currently inhabited by the Dark Side-Force cult, the Prophets of the Dark Side. The Reavers have managed to evade their attention, but have noted that they should not wonder too close to the encampments of the Prophets, lest they be detected. Teams are still looking for a way into the Deep Core to access Typhon, as per you instructions, but they have already collected several items that they believed would be of interest to you, My Lord." Avun explained as another gesture brought up images of the items in question. I noted a dozen ancient tomes written in ancient Sith, probably covering a dozen different topics and skills while a range of amulets were also present. Old weapons, Sith War blades, armor plating and even a few Sith Holocrons were present alongside a surprisingly large array of primitive Lightsabers. It was an impressive collection, but the true prize was an object that stood out to me rather impressively: It was Dreypa's Oubliette, also known as the Jebble Box.

I smiled at the sight of that, nodding once and gesturing for Avun to continue as plans began to spin in my mind. The coffin-like box was a potent thing, both for what it was and for what it contained. The Box contained an ancient Jedi Master, one Celeste Morne, who had been trapped within it for thousands of years. She had been trapped within it for the sake of containing the owner of the Muur Talisman, a Sith artifact that could turn normal Sentients into Rakghouls and control them like an army of puppets. Sure, the talisman was still haunted by the ghost of the Sith Lord Muur, but I could think of a few ways of removing that little blight from existence, while retaining any information that might have been present within his ghost. Absently, I made a note to see about whether or not the Reavers could affect the sleeping Jedi mentally while she was within the casket, as a way of granting some measure of control over her once she was awoken.

"Next, Project Genesis has reported rather promising results from their latest tests. Tests show that combinations of Gen'Dai, Icarii, Feeorin and Dashade DNA samples shows the most promise and that they are currently moving on from Stage one Alpha-level testing to Beta-level testing. They hope to have a working series of prototypes ready for your review by the end of next year, with the Stage two models being tested a few years afterwards, depending on the results and your authorization for such a thing to take place. Along with that, they have also been looking into the possibilities of Psionic genes and various other creatures that they believe could be spliced together and added to the end result of the Stage three testing. Currently, they only have theories and ideas, but, with Gaia helping them, they have begun looking at the possibilities of Taozin, Ysalamir and Vornskr, along with what few samples of Tuk'ata and Terentatek genetic material that were provided by the Reavers of Grigori, among others. So far, the simulations show much promise." I nodded as more images came, test-tubes and large cylinders filled with liquid, figures were visible within some, but not visible within others while various technicians, Droids, robots and other members of staff wondered around and carried out their duties. Current progression was working on a scale of fast prototyping via the use of genetic profiling and accelerated aging programmed into the prototypes. Said prototypes currently only lived a few years before they died, and even then, they had virtually no mental capacity what-so-ever, little more than breathing corpses, abet, ones that still had value and use to them. Seeing the gesture, Avun continued onwards to the next project as I glanced down at the data pad, a superficial move on my part, but one that helped me focus on the details.

"Lastly, Project Solomon. Lilith and Hecate have been working closely with this project to both find the blueprints for technologies of interest, as well as developing them further to suit the needs of both yourself, and Sicarius as a whole. So far, they've found several dozen examples of various technologies that could be considered ancient by current standards, some even being thousands of years old, but these examples have, thus far, proven themselves to be dozens of times more effective than anything currently available due to the technological regression that the Galaxy seems to experience. Among what was found, Reaver teams located two vessels of interest, wrecks that you instructed them to search for, My Lord." Avun stated as two new images appeared before me. I smiled slightly as I saw each of them as I took a sip from my glass and enjoyed the flavor as I savored the knowledge that the chances of me and mine surviving the many, rapidly approaching, shit-storms were going up and up further each day.

"The first vessel was found on Mustafar, an old Republic warship that was present dates back to sometime between the Mandalorian War and the New Sith War, exact dating is somewhat difficult due to the nature of the planet, but a more detailed report is being compiled for your review, My Lord. Aboard the vessel, the Reavers found the remains of several weapons and droids, among them, they found this." Another image appeared as I watched, a wide smile playing across my features as I saw the image before me of an ancient, yet well-preserved Droid body, damaged in the initial crash that must have taken the ship down with it, but the body was still in good enough condition that, clearly, the data core must have been retrieved.

"And the data core of the Droid?" I asked, partially expecting the answer that followed as Avun bowed her head slightly.

"Empty, however, the actual personality core of the Droid was found to have been uploaded into the main data core of the vessel, a Hammerhead-class Cruiser. The Reavers have retrieved both the remains of the Droid's body and the data core, having cut it out of the wreck, along with samples of the technology present." I nodded at that, accepting the answer as another thought came to me as I looked over two of the latest additions to my growing arsenal of aces against suicide-by-stupid-people.

"And what of the wreck itself? I assume that they didn't leave anything behind to be found by scavengers or the like?" I asked, getting a nod from Avun, who gave a sly smirk in turn as she gestured once more, causing the previous images to disappear. Absently, I wondered why she even did that, especially given her augmented-nature, though, given the fact that the little movements caused her dress to shift and expose more skin, or the interesting things it did to her chest, I think I could answer that question myself.

"Destroyed, they made it look like an avalanche that caused the wreck to fall into a lava river before triggering a minor eruption in the area. No one was present to see it, as both the locals and the Techno Union presence on the planet were located elsewhere on the planet. The nearest settlement being days away by anything short of a sub-orbital flight." Avun stated as she brought up an image of the other ship that the Reavers had found, as per Project Solomon. I openly grinned as I saw the ship, the oddly shaped vessel looking very much like I remembered from the background I had read and that seemed to have remained true even here.

"I see you found the Grey Secant on Ilum. Good, what about the Hypergate on the planet? Was that present as well?" I asked, slightly curious as to whether or not it had survived millennia of Jedi stupidity and constant war, especially after the Great Galactic War, the Cold War, and the Galactic War. Avun smiled and bowed slightly as the next image showed the Hypergate in question, uprooted and loaded onto a large freighter, a nice image that told me plenty, more than enough, to know that it would soon be added to the various Keys of Solomon.

"Indeed, My Lord. The Gate was present and the Reavers responsible for the expedition managed to both secure it and the vessel. They also returned with a few trinkets they found, dating back to the Great Galactic war, with a few other items mixed into it, even a Lightsaber or two that must have been lost during the conflict for the world before the Republic regained it, as you theorized." Avun stated simply as I nodded and stood up from the chair.

"Good to know that such a thing has been confirmed, at least now I know that the Jedi are as blind as they are stupid, not anything new, but confirmation is always nice. After all, when your enemy is making a mistake, it's best not to tell them, let alone interrupt them while their doing so." I remarked with another sip of my Brandy as Avun giggled slightly at that, covering her mouth even as her body bounced a bit, an action I knew she was exaggerating to grab my attention, hence the giggle. Pausing for a moment, I looked at the large Supergiant before me and saw the beauty of it again, a thought and an area of the image zoomed in to show one of the many stations that now circled the massive celestial object. Even as it zoomed in, I walked forwards, passing the holographic screens that disappeared with a thought even as I heard Avun coming up behind me, to my left.

Soon, the image cleared and enhanced itself to show one of the stations in question, a massive thing that having been the result of three years of careful work to produce a new form of resource generation that would further aid the Hades station in being both self-sufficient and fully capable of thriving in a full-war footing, should it come to that. The stations were shaped like massive cylinders, one end facing the star while the other aimed for space, just looking at it, one could see the scale of the massive constructs, black Thermo-kinetic armor working alongside radiation shields to protect it from the close proximity of the star. Looking at the trail of stellar matter that linked the two objects, I smiled as I watched it rise like a double helix, an impressive sight, a by-product of the tractor beams pulling the massive amounts of energized matter up.

"Five years... " I muttered to myself even as I felt Avun behind me, through senses both common and esoteric. She remained silent even as I continued to speak, indulging me in one of my moments of reflection even as I sipped my glass once more.

"Five years since I came here, since I started out as a lowly Bounty Hunter and now...? Now I command a PMC that has numerous planetary governments taking steps back, that has the Republic giving me cautious looks and has the respect, envy and fear of virtually the entire Galactic Underworld... Damn..." I said as a thought made the image of Stellar Foundry No. 07 disappear even as I felt movement behind me, felt the pressure of Avun coming up behind me and pressing her body against my own as arms came and dangled over my shoulders, one tracing over my chest while another played with the collar of my jacket, looking for a way to undo it and get into my shirt. I ignored it, for the most part, even as I kept talking while Avun perched her head on my shoulder, pressing her chest further into my back.

"Damn... Just where the hell do I go from here...?" I asked, repeating myself even as I felt Avun's hips starting to move while a finger traced my jaw before gently pushing my chin, I allowed it as I turned to face the seductress that looked back at me with a half-lidded stare. She wasted no time after that, pressing her lips against mine for a short kiss, tracing her tongue over my lips before pulling back with a sigh escaping her own lips as she pulled back before slipping in and leaning into my ear, hot breath tickling my skin.

"... Wherever you wish... _My Lord_... We shall follow..."

 **XXX**

Sighing to myself as I looked over my collection of weapons and armor, I tested checked my supplies for what seemed like the millionth time, even as old and new paranoia told me to check everything again, just to make sure it would work as I wanted. Honestly, I was less than worry about what I was getting into, but I still found myself feeling a nervous anticipation of what was to happen next, of what would come after I left the Dagger that I was currently using as a transport, one of a fleet numbering in the thousands, and that was just for the Dagger-class. Other ship-types had long since been constructed to fill roles as Sicarius expanded in the last three years, updates, upgrades, new developments and new discoveries just meant that things were constantly changing, shifting and being altered to make the best use of what was learned, whether it be from this Galaxy, my own, implanted, knowledge, or from hard-won experience.

As such, as I pulled my clock over my shoulders, attaching it into my collar and waist while my helmet unfolded from said collar to expand and cover my head, I looked at the final item that I had with me. The strange device was made of Crystals, a bar of solid crystal engraved with metals lines and runes that I recognized as being of Sith origin. The entire thing had been tested, checked and examined a dozen times before I picked it up from the Reaper team sent to originally pick it up just after passing into the Core, travelling along the Hydian Way before splitting off to head for Coruscant. Operational security was that any Force artifacts were to be examined and contained, kept away from Hades for a minimum of a month before they were considered safe to bring closer, even if only to a secondary base a few dozen Light-years away.

This was not one of them, as such, it was something that we only really worked with as a tool. Read Object had returned with nothing more than who had made it and who's hands it had passed through, a rather long list that I knew would probably grow longer in time, but I at least knew that it wasn't going to lead back to Hades if Darth Plaguies decided to come knocking. Then again, I smiled, the Muun probably knew that coming to my front door so blatantly would _not_ be a good idea.

Darth Plaguies the Wise, indeed.

"My Lord, we are on final approach to Coruscant. All stealth systems are currently active and we will be approaching the infiltration point within the next seven minutes. Lilith has reported that there are no signs that your approach has been detected, along with that, she reports that she is ready to begin causing security forces difficulties, should they discover your presence. Ishtar, likewise, reports that all forces are present and ready to intervene, should you be discovered and require a hard exfiltration." I heard in my ear, Eve reporting how the current situation was going even as I put the crystal block away, knowing that it had been altered to react when in the presence of the Holocron that my client wished for. As far as I could tell, it would do such via glowing either brighter or dimmer, something I disliked since I'd be playing a game of 'hotter or colder' with this damned thing even while I tried keeping myself hidden from Lord only knew how many Jedi.

And yes, I knew they were stupid and blind, but even blind people can find something if they search for it, certainly, they'd probably be able to find if something was out of place in a location they knew so well.

With that in mind, I called up my reserves and started feeling the power flow, both Psionic energies and Aetheric currents of magic. I smiled at that, both flowing freely as I remembered that old book I had been given, a tome of knowledge given to me by my Benefactor at our last meeting three years previously. I had said it would be game-changing then, and it still applied some three years later as I enjoyed the fruits grown from that seed of knowledge: A way to use Magic while clad in heavy armor, inside MDC vehicles, or even in the depths of Starships.

Moving out of the armory, I took a turn and left for one of the main Airlocks, a pair of Reapers following me in their preferred suits of Light Power Armor. I felt their bodies tense up even as they remained hyper-aware of the world around them, self-discipline keeping them from twitching and jumping around like a barely contained spring. As that happened, I remembered all the work needed to allow me to use Magic through my armor, an action that took years to do for my own suit, and such action would only would for me, given what the book spoke of.

It spoke of saturating the materials of a suit of armor with a person's energies, allowing them to pass, but only for that person. Any other person would suffer the same as if they wearing a normal suit of armor, but said suits could be attuned to more than one person at a time, but the price to be paid increased exponentially with each person that you wanted to be able to use a suit of armor. For a single person to do such, it took a year of time, effort and work, double that for two people, four times that for three, eight times that for four people, and so on and so forth. Doing it like that just wasn't economically viable for anything but a single person, something I full agreed with since, while it meant a Reaver would need to start from scratch if they lost their original suit, they could access the full width and breadth of their abilities in battle.

As could I.

A few minutes later, and I came to the Airlock in question, more soldiers standing guard as I watched the door cycle even as the mental counter I had ticked downwards to nearly nothing as I walked in once the door was open wide enough. A second later and the door sealed behind me as I waited for what was to come, not that I had to wait long, as Even returned to me a minute later as I looked at the blank door before me while checking the readouts on my HUD, all things showing that they were working and that my Reaver-style armor was up to scratch.

"My Lord, we are approaching the target zone. Opening outer Airlock." An instant later, that happened as I saw the door cycle before sliding open, the wind suddenly blasting into the room as I walked towards the entry point beyond me and stood at the edge. I looked around and noted with a fair bit of amusement that I was, literally, standing in a hole in reality, since it looked like a doorway had appeared from nowhere as I looked down at the city skyline that was Coruscant. Absently, I tightened my hold on the Altered Aura that was being released by my body, a Psionic skill that Reavers had learned to use to hide themselves from Force-based detection by rendering their Aura down to virtually nothing. Such a thing was useful, especially when combined with a few other tricks to render you even less visible.

Still, as I took that last step before reaching the edge, I considered if I should go that route, if only to ensure that I managed to get in and out without getting caught. Then I reconsidered, remembering the words of the client: "To show the Jedi mortal terror". I smiled at that as I discarded those thoughts and began to consider other powers, trying to decide on what to use before finally settling on one even as I glanced down.

Below me, I saw the grand sight of the Jedi Temple as it stood, cream-coloured stone or concrete-like materials giving it such a colour in the dawning sky even as I smirked at it. Chances were that they had probably felt the ship arriving, but that wasn't something I could be sure of even as I took a step forwards and jumped into the howling abyss of the open air, an eager grin plastered to my features even as I shot towards the ground like a bullet out of a gun with one thought playing across my mind.

This was going to be fun...

 **XXX**

The corridors of Hades were always busy. Either with supplies being transported, men and woman moving from one location to another, or with patrols being carried out; These were but a few of the reasons that the corridors always seemed filled with people, few corridors were ever empty, and most always had at least a few dozen people in them at any given time, regardless of whether it was day or night, based on station-time. As such, as Avun stalked through the busy corridors with her escort of Reapers, all members of Sicarius moved to grant her passage, her superior rank and her guard of high-ranking Reapers ensured it as even the most unobservant moved quickly to get out of the way of the towering, Power Armor-clad soldiers that were considered among the most dangerous warriors within Sicarius.

Seeing this, Avun smiled slightly to herself and allowed a glance at the Reapers in question. Dull black armor covered them entirely, the plating covering all weak points while synthetic muscle bundles were visible through the cracks in the armor and the joints, MDC fibres woven into the muscles, as well as the nature of the bundles themselves, removed them as a weak point. Every Reaper always had at least a dozen guns on them at any given time, the two guarding her were no exception as she flexed her abilities and felt their weapons; Four visible pistols were on each side of their waists and on the small of their backs, but both also had another four hidden in thigh compartments, plus another four in compartments hidden in the shoulder blades of the armor, plus at least one rifle on either of them. Added to that, they also carried a few dozen different throwing knives and blades scattered around their bodies, few people generally witnessed how heavily armed they were, then again, they would probably be too busy pissing themselves at the sight of the helmet.

Said helmet was carefully crafted, the materials used giving it the appearance of a leering skull while black lenses gave the impression of the eyes being a bottomless abyss. More than one opponent had tried to flee at the sight of such a face, and it certainly wasn't helped by the fact that Reapers had quickly picked up how to inspire dread through simple body language mixed with infrasound projectors. Not to mention other tricks they had picked up to seem as intimidating as possible while still carrying out their duties, something that was used to keep the Underworld in line and prevent them from doing something stupid when they thought they had a chance. Avun absently rolled her eyes at the thought of such a weak point being possible, her Lord had worked too hard to ensure that no such weak point was visible, let alone even existed.

Turning a corner, she heard and felt the Reapers stop as she walked through an open door, taking guarding positions at the doorway along with other soldiers that stood at attention, weapons at the ready in case of an attack that probably would never come. The door sealing behind her, Avun smiled as she looked into the white-walled lab around her and moved through it, taking note of the teams of in-house trained scientists and workers busy while she looked up and saw the vast arrays of massive tubes and containers where dozens of figures floated in suspension fluids. Smiling, the Chiss approached a work station and brought up the current progress of Genesis, along with the logs of the many side projects attached to it, her own work included.

"Gaia, how is the progress on the current iteration of retroviruses?" Avun asked as she looked over the data in turn, taking note of the work done and what DNA samples had been included to get what result. A moment later, a hologram of the AI fragment appeared, bowing her head slightly before looking back at Avun in turn.

"Current status shows a 67% success rate with the current iteration. Trials have proven promising for this version of the retrovirus, but improvements can be made and the effects can become more pronounced in time. Trials have also discovered that the use of normal M.O.M implants in the subjects can cause numerous problems with the conversion, as they would be rejected and either destroyed, or the regrowing flesh would try to displace them, both outcomes would, and have, resulted in the deaths of the test subjects." Gaia explained, a small clip playing that showed exactly at that as man was injected with something before he stayed quiet, only to start screaming in horrid pain moments later as his skin rippled slightly, scales becoming visible while he bucked and thrashed against restraints. The MDC materials holding firm, but only just as subject continued to throw himself around even as the changes continued, only to stop as the skull started to deform before all movement stopped, blood slowly leaking from the subject's eyes, mouth and nose as he slumped into the bed that he laid upon, dead.

Seeing that, Avun nodded as she considered that for a moment and considered what she knew before choosing to continue speaking.

"Have you discovered any solutions for the problem?" Avun asked, referring to how virtually every member of Sicarius had implants in one form or another, generally as a Controller chip to keep them loyal, a paranoid precaution, but one that was used to both make them loyal in the first place and to keep them as such. Gaia nodded at that.

"Biochips are already being constructed, when the process is ready, many of the current lines of implants can be replaced with Biochips to allow for a smoother process. The already present augments are of little danger of causing rejection, but Psynetic and M.O.M implants are still taking time to discover a work around, especially due to your own nature, my Lady." Gaia stated as Avun leaned back, taking a seat in thought as she cupped her chin, as she considered and discarded a few ideas before glancing back at the AI.

"... What about using a nanite-based delivery system to reconstruct the genetic make-up of an individual one cell at a time? The process would effectively be the same, but slower due to needing to be more careful about implementing it." Avun stated as Gaia tilted her head slightly to one side in thought, probably running some simulations to see if the idea had potential.

"Possible, though extremely painful. Projections show that such a conversion process would also have several long term problems with the regenerative abilities of the different DNA augments trying to remove the implants or consume them to make itself whole." Avun shrugged at that, expecting something to come from the proposal, at least in terms of long term problems.

"Understandable. Is there any way to work around it?" Avun inquired as the fragment shook her head.

"Not currently. The only way for a heavily cyberised individual to undergo the current conversion process would require for their cybernetics to either be removed, or converted to some kind of techno-organic structure to ensure that the conversion would think that the metal was just the same as the subjects flesh and blood. Such a thing is outside of our present abilities to do. Though, Grigori has noted the potential for Sith Alchemy to do such a thing... Hmmm... Marking Sith Alchemy down for further research." Gaia stated as Avun smiled at that, glad to know that she wouldn't be left behind when it came time for things to progress, as directed by their Lord's master plan. Then again, no one within Sicarius wanted to be left behind, especially if he advanced to become something greater than he was before. Oh, all of them would gladly stay as they were, had he given the command, but he had allowed this to happen, to allow Genesis to be carried out fully and without objection.

"What about the current lines of prototypes for Stage one?" Avun asked as another image appeared, showing a Humanoid figure as layers were peeled off to show the separate areas of interest as more and more was done to highlight differences as another hologram appeared next to it, showing a Sicarius baseline soldier.

"Work is progress as predicted, slow, but with steady advancement to the design and complexity of the prototypes. Stage one is working to create the foundation for further enhancements down the line, but the current design shows great promise as it is, even without adding any further samples to the gene-mix to further augment the current iteration. As of this moment, we've been using Gen'Dai and Dashade DNA as a base while using some Icarii DNA for the appearance and enhanced regenerative properties, as per the Master's instructions. This has meant that, while Human in appearance, the prototypes have shown impressive regenerative abilities, allowing them to survive any kind of injury that one could imagine. Icarii DNA also helps prevent the Brain from degenerating from advanced age while a bit of gene-splicing as made it so that the brain is no longer centralized, but scattered through the nerve clusters that line the entire nervous system. As a result, there is no centralized organ that can be attacked to ensure a clean kill of the prototype while retaining the ability to enter a hibernate state either at will or once too many injuries have been taken, the latter of which has been pushed back significantly to increase durability. Dashad DNA has increased the durability of the prototypes hide while also granting it several organs scattered throughout the body that help regulate their body heat and filter any harmful radiation from their bodies. Theoretically, this should also make them partially resistant to the Force, either making it harder for Force users to directly affect them, or for them to be less effected by things such as Mind Tricks. I'd need more information to create a more solid theory, but the simulations support the theory. Finally, the addition of Feeorin DNA has made it so that muscle development and durability will not degenerate from underuse or age, but will grow stronger with age, and stronger still through constant use and exercise." Gaia explained, showing clips of the prototype at work, going through drills and showing how such things worked as it compared charts that showed how the subject became stronger, tougher as it grew older at an accelerated rate before showing other aspects, the resistance to damage, the healing, and the fact that one would need to destroy the creature down to practically kill every cell and destroy every atom of the creature to ensure it stayed dead. Something that showed to be a difficult prospect even as Avun watched the tests slowly progress from the weapons of this Galaxy towards weapons favored by the Master's Homeworld, weapons that Sicarius used as a whole.

Avun smirked widely as she saw all this, the results speaking for themselves as she watched the prototypes being attacked, stabbed, shot and blasted to pieces only to come back together, if given sufficient time to do such a thing. In terms of appearance, they looked like Humanoids with sections of their skin being overlapped, or replaced, with scales, mainly around the waist, the wrists, ankles, neck, the jaw line, cheeks and around the eyes. Such differentiating features were expected, but future stages of the project planned to remove such superficial differences through a number of means, either making it so that the scales could be hidden or removed altogether. Still, it was everything that the Chiss Technojacker expected and more, even with what she had just read from the reports she had delivered to the Master just earlier.

"And what about the other DNA samples that are being looked into, and the possibility of Psionic genes being implanted into the final product?" Avun asked as she saw Gaia smirk slightly at that.

"Work is still ongoing... But, the results... They show... _Promise_..." Avun smirked widely in turn as she chuckled slightly at that, the ideas that came from that alone and the potential for the future was more than enough for her to know that her Lord's plan was progressing as it should. However, what made it even better was the knowledge that it was only one of many.

One among a vast web of plans and schemes that stretched across the Galaxy...

 **XXX**

Looking over her latest work, the Hecate-Fragment looked at the current design of a new ship that would seen be put into production. It was something to join the growing fleet of Sicarius, like all the other ships that she had designed, it followed the same design plan as the rest of them: Jet black in colour with sharp edges, hard angles and very few soft curves, if any, in the entire design. Other aspects often included the large degree of automatic features that allowed the ship to function, such as the Hyper-swarms, colony-hives and large numbers of robots working as security and anti-boarding units to protect the virtual skeleton crews when compared to the ships of the larger Galaxy.

As such, she turned her attention to her latest work: The Covert Assault/Shock Assault/Anti-Warship Vessel-Destroyer Iteration 9726-AD, the Longsword-class Destroyer.

The design for the vessel was simple, a vessel designed with the express purpose of hunting down other Capital ships, or any opposing ships in general, and gutting them as quickly and efficiently as possible, regardless of range. Of course, closer ranges meant that they would have a much easier time getting a target lock, but such things were a matter of reality due to the nature of void combat, with the distances giving opposing forces time to move and dodge out of the way of potentially lethal hits. For that reason, the Longsword was designed with a heavy focus on weapons that could not be avoided easily, each one focusing on a different area. For long ranges, the Longsword was designed to favor a new weapon system that Hecate had created from the ground up, a system that was to be used in a number of heavier classes from this point forwards.

It was called the Ragnarok Cannon.

The Ragnarok Cannon was a Mass Driver, designed to fire shells the size of some shuttle craft with a warhead of pure Anti-matter contained in a reactor/warhead hybrid design. The shell itself was a more than just an oversized bullet, it was a semi-guided projectile with the capability to hone in on a target across vast distances and try to hit them. Of course, with the distances involved, such a thing was not possible with any degree of certainty, which was why the Ragnarok shells were programmed to go for Proximity kills, detonating close enough to bath the surrounding area in a well-spring of Radiation, heat and plasma. Of course, the Anti-matter warhead was just the standard shell type, other types were present, ranging from a Flechette-spraying shaped charge, to more cluster shells capable of splitting up mid-flight to attack multiple targets at once. Internal colony-hives also boasted the ability to rapidly produce these shells to assist in rearming the ship between engagements, something that would only sever to make the ship more dangerous in the long run.

For placement, these weapons were located in two turrets that were located on either side of the bow of the ship, which split apart to have two spikes coming from an inward-facing crescent, one above the other with the inner edge looking like it was honed to a razor edge. The vessel widened from there, looking more like a blade, if viewed from above, and following the current lines of designs that Sicarius used, it looked like a long, grip-less sword that had the guard replaced with a pair of sharp wings that jutted out from the rear of the vessel and slashed forwards. These wings held other weapons, primarily the dozens of Torpedo launchers that held the Sicarius brand of such weapons, little more than oversized missiles with enlarged warheads and even more agile self-guidance and path-finding systems. Missiles were also present, but they were redesigned for agility more than warhead size, preferred as a close-range weapon while the Point defense systems remained present, and in a similar design configuration as with other vessels. Of course, what further made the ship so dangerous was the weapons that dominated the six edges that moved along the ship from the bow, away from the Ragnarok Cannons.

On each edge, in an alternating pattern, were a series of retractable turrets that each held a twin-linked weapon system, either a Plasma Beam or Particle Beam weapon that could render any target that came within range of them into dust. The Plasma Beams remained for closer-ranged targets, but they were potent things within those ranges while the Particle Beams kept their own strengths, their only failing being their charge time between blasts that was partly solved due to the twin-linked nature of the turrets, allowing them to fire in sequence or parallel as needed. Though, compared to other vessels, the range of such weapons was greater due to the sheer increase in size and energy being pumped into the weapons than with the lesser Daggers or Shortsword-class Frigates.

Aside from that, the 850 metre long, 210 metre wide vessel contained every other advanced system that had become a hall mark of Sicarius, with ECM and ECCM systems incorporated into the hull, Thermo-Kinetic armor that was fifteen metres thick at the weakest point and covered by multiple self-repair systems. Added on to this were the dozens of Variable Force Fields and stealth systems built into the monster vessel that would soon stalk the stars and void as Hecate qued up a series of simulations to run, testing the design with the aid of Ishtar to see how it faired. Once that was done, the two would go over the results to see how they could be improved for future versions while also beginning a limited production run for testing within the Hades system.

It was the same thing that they had done with the Dagger, and the Shortsword, both having their origins in the works of their Master, but growing from them, improving upon the initial designs to create something better. So impressed with the designs, the Master even granted them permission to halt the production of his old designs, something that had rendered all seven of the AI-fragments speechless for _minutes_. Then again, it only gave Hecate more determination to keep on going, the praise of the Master driving her forwards as she sought to improve, create and expand the abilities and reach of the Master through the tools she crafted.

Already, she had seen the praise her Master had for her skills, but she wished for more, to hear him speak and praise her for more of her craft, for her to know that she was valued by her Master, as did all the AI-fragments that formed the N.E.X.U.S.

And, as she opened up a new project and began her work, she felt a slight twitch to her digital lips, what could only be called a shallow, sly smile that promised many things for the future.

None of them good, for the enemies of either her or her Master...

 **XXX**

Slipping into the Jedi temple was never an issue.

Three years of training, combat and practice, not to mention continuous development of my own abilities, had meant that I had plenty of new tricks to add to my arsenal. With that time, I had long since learned to diversify my abilities, growing from the purely discrete powers of Magic and Psionics to more potent, obvious applications of powers that could be used to render opponents as little more than carbonized ash or bloody smears against the walls. My stealth abilities had not fallen behind my combat abilities either, mostly because I found the use of such things more potent than one might expect, especially with the rumors surrounding me, acting like a veil to hide the full length and breadth of my skills.

As such, with the words of Darth Plagueis' puppet in mind, I decided to try a rather different approach since my aim was not to get what I wanted with minimum fuss, but was to cause terror within the ranks of Jedi, to lead them on a merry chase that would have them jumping at shadows.

For that reason, I walked right in through the front door.

Of course, that isn't to say I was stupid about it. No, my form was hidden by a rather neat trick, a Psionic ability called an Ectoplasmic disguise, coating my form in a goo-like substance that was molded and textured to look and feel like flesh. A bit of work later, and I looked like a non-descript Human Jedi in the appropriate robes while still retaining my armor hidden under the layers of my disguise, more work had also allowed my Aura to shift slightly to become a composite image of multiple Jedi, letting me slip into their ranks without even a side-ways glance in my direction. Under my disguise, I couldn't stop grinning like a lunatic as I walked through the halls of the Jedi Temple without fear, I had done stuff like this before, with Sith cults that were scattered around the Galaxy, along with learning more from the Reavers that were under my command.

Walking at a pleasant pace, I quickly found what I was looking for as I turned a corner and stopped for a moment, reaching the Jedi Archives itself. The massive chamber filled with computers and terminals to access them as I walked past them, glancing around even as I gave a nod to one of the Liberians that guarded the knowledge held within the massive banks of solid-state storage devices. Slowly, I approached a table and took a seat, keeping my disguise calm as I sat down and started opening the terminal up. With a bit of influence, what few security features that were present disappeared, allowing me full access as I got into the highest level of data before starting to look for what I needed.

Namely, a full map of the Jedi Temple and an access port that was out of the way and not checked often. The former was easy to find, since it was attached to the main Archive and a few levels down, deeper into the Temple proper and with less ways to access it. However, the latter proved a bit trickier to find, but still something I found in due course as I back tracked the logs of access to find something out of the way before I smiled under my disguise. A thought and I dismissed what I had found as I turned my attention back to the physical world, where my body was giving the impression of researching the particulars of certain styles of fighting, Form two and Form three of Lightsaber combat.

"Excuse me, Master, but may do you require any assistance?" I heard from my side as I returned to my senses even as my eyes glanced over the screen. Instincts and old, self-enforced, training prevented me from jumping in surprise as I turned to look at the source of the voice in question. I kept the surprise from my face as I scanned the figure that I looked at, taking in details and running a quick searching the back of my mind before finding a match even as I felt my eyebrow rise slightly at the conclusion.

Though, in retrospect, it wasn't needed.

"Not at the moment, Padawan Kenobi, though, I appreciate the effort nonetheless." I stated as I rose from the terminal to see the future mentor of the chosen one. Scanning him, I saw him standing stiff, his head bowed respectfully even as he rose back up to look at me in turn.

"As you wish, Master, though, if you need anything, don't hesitate to request assistance from either myself or one of the others present." The Padawan stated as I nodded, a smile spreading across my false features as started walking, heading in the opposite direction of the Holocron vault as I felt the need to head for something a bit different first.

"No need, I've already found what I was looking for. I'll be leaving, but may the Force be with you in your duties." I stated as he nodded before walking off with an offered 'And may the Force be with you too, Master'. The words faded into the background quickly as I headed for the entrance of the massive library. However, I paused by the door for just an instant, not long enough to be noticed, but long enough for me to drop a package that then scuttled over and hide in alley before searching out its pre-programmed target point even as I carried on as though nothing had happened. The whole point of it was to give the appearance that nothing had happened. In truth, nothing really had, but my present would soon be working to give me just a touch more than I had initially wished to get, should it work as I hoped.

Outside the archive, I smirked happily, my form still hidden by my disguise as I turned a corner and walked around the area, heading for another section of the Temple even as a message played across my vision as the modified Scarab Mark six Assassin Droid made it to its target. The machine, having been modified for its task as to infiltrate the Jedi network and steal as much data as it could find, exploiting the backdoor I had formed for it, but working on a deadline as I knew N.E.X.U.S would be working fast to ensure that everything was done. Still, it everything worked as well as I hoped, I would be able to get more than just a few Holocrons out of this, even if I failed.

Turning another corner as I finished descending further into the temple, I absently scanned for other signs of life, I paused as I felt around with my mind, looking for my target as I envisioned the area around me, scans showing the internal layout and cross-referencing it with the map I had downloaded from the temple's network. Nodding to myself, I glanced around again, a nervous habit as I pressed a concealed control on my waist and walked forwards. A moment later, I came into contact with the wall...

... And walked right through it as though it wasn't even present. An Out-of-Phase Field generator mounted into my armor, slimmed down enough to be flush against my back as I slipped through the wall before emerging in the one location I wanted.

The Holocron Vault.

As I looked around, laser triggers and darkened lights filling the chamber and causing the gem-like cubes to glitter in the faint light, I couldn't help but grin like a loon as I pulled out the Sith Artifact and started looking for my objective, Object Read played across my mind as I scanned some Holocrons and grabbed a few that caught my interest. Mostly, they contained generalized information about the nature of the Force, but also contained information about a few potent abilities that caught my interest the most.

Still, even with all that, the only dampener on the whole thing was the fact that I _still_ had to play a damned game of 'hot or cold' with a glowing hunk of crystal...

"... Well, it's not like I expected anything else..."

 **XXX**

AN: Ok, there you have it. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and I welcome all reviews at the time.

Until next time!


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